The American Coot
Examining the wetlands of North America reveals a vast number of aquatic birds. When attempting to identify these aquatic birds, the variations in size, color, and characteristics are often overwhelming. However, one aquatic bird that is easy to distinguish, due to its consistent and simple coloring, is the American coot.
The family of birds Rallidae consists of 130 different species throughout the world. Nevertheless, as large as this family is, only nine of these species breed in North America. Of this family, consisting of rails, gallinules, and coots, the American coot is the most widely spread and abundant.
Meet the coot
The American coot, unlike many of the members of its family, is more duck-like in both appearance and characteristics.
The overall coloring of the American coot is black to slate gray. The most distinguishing characteristics are its contrasting white forehead and bill, along with brightly colored red eyes. Just above the upper edge of the coot’s white forehead is a unique area of swollen skin that is maroon or reddish in color. Near the tip of the white bill, both on the lower and upper portions, is a small black spot or marking. Even though the reddish area on the forehead and the black mark on the bill are difficult to see from a distance, this fifteen-inch long duck-like bird is still easily recognizable.
The American coot is duck-like in both appearance and characteristics.
(David A. Murray photo)
An immature coot is similar to the adult, although, its body color tends to be a light slate-gray with more whitish-colored feathers, particularly on the breast and underside of the bird. The youngster also lacks the reddish lobe and white bill of the adult. Although the American coot is generally seen in the water where its legs are not visible, another differing characteristic between the adult and immature bird is the leg color. The adult bird’s legs are generally yellow or a yellow-orange, while the immature bird’s legs are a greenish-gray color.
The American coot is the best swimmer in its family. This is predominately due to its unique lobed feet and toes. The lobed feet have allowed this species to easily adapt to swimming in open water, and it is not uncommon to find the coot swimming among a group of ducks. Lobed feet also help to propel this bird underwater, so diving to the bottom of lakes and ponds for aquatic plants is common. Most of the American coot’s diet consists of these aquatic plants; however, on occasion, coots also leave the water for land, where they feed on grass and seeds.
The American coot breeds throughout most of its range. However, its primary breeding range extends from the southwestern sections of Canada east to New York and southward. The adult female lays eight to ten eggs, which are spotted-brown and pale pink in color. A shallow nest, built from dead leaves and twigs or stems, is constructed among a clump of reeds.
“How to” photo tip
Photographing aquatic birds can produce many challenges. The distance when photographing over a large body of water creates one of the challenges. Even though many of the aquatic species, including the American coot, prefer to feed and travel along the waters edge, it doesn’t preclude them from putting a significant amount of distance between them and you.
Therefore, one of the first things to do is to locate a small pond or marsh with a coot population. Don’t overlook areas populated by people, as these birds, like some duck species, can easily become habituated and establish themselves in duck ponds, where people feed them crackers and bread.
To photograph habituated birds, a short telephoto lens will suffice. However, for photographing their wild counterparts your longest telephoto lens, mounted on a tripod, is the best choice of equipment. Also, whether shooting film or digital capture, this may be a good time to bracket your shots, as explained below.
The most difficult challenge of photographing the American coot is obtaining a correct exposure. Shooting with your camera on one of the automatic settings will probably produce disappointing results. Not only will the camera meter be fooled from the light reflecting off the surface of the water, but getting detail in the dark feathers will also be compromised.
The solution is to photograph using the manual setting and preset your exposure. To do this, first take a light reading from an average tone subject away from the water, to avoid the reflected light, and then overexpose (let in more light) by about one-half to a full-stop to bring out the detail in the dark feathers. This will put you in the exposure “ballpark”, but until you gain some experience, bracketing is a good idea.
The term bracketing refers to a technique where you shoot multiple images of the same subject or scene using slightly different over and under exposures. For example, whatever you determine as the correct exposure will be your benchmark exposure. Take a shot at that benchmark exposure, and then simply change your exposure to take one shot that is underexposed and another that is overexposed from the benchmark. How much over and under exposure is up to you, but I would suggest one-half stop increments for starters.
Naturally, as you get comfortable with this technique, the amount of shots you take, and the variations on exposure, will be based on what you learn through experience.
Good shooting!
For questions or comments, e-mail: mail@davidamurray.com.
© 2008 David A. Murray.
