Giant Coot - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Stanley Jones
Cordillera Blanca, Huascaran National Park, Laguna Patochocha, Pachacoto, Ancash, Peru, August 2017

Fulica gigantea

Identification

48–59 cm (19-23¼ in)
Very large coot. Mostly black, lacking white in undertail. Head has a distinct shape. Bill is red in lower mandible and tip, white upper mandible, and yellow frontal shield that continues narrowly to the crown where it is surrounded by two feather tufts, giving an impression of the head being partly split.

Distribution

South America: found in the Andes of southern Peru to northern Chile and northwestern Argentina.

Note distinctive head shape
Photo © by megan perkins
Salinas N. Park, Peru November 2005

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Habitat

Lakes of the high Andean steppe

Behaviour

Breeding

Monogomous. Constructs nest on floating plant material.

Diet

Their diet consists almost entirely of aquatic vegetatation.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Alvaro Jaramillo. 2003. Birds of Chile. Princeton Field Guides. ISBN 0-691-11740-3
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2014)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Giant Coot. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Giant_Coot

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