Eurasian Coot
About the size of a medium duck, it weighs between 600 and 1000 grams. The Eurasian coot is easily recognized by its uniform dark coloration and the white frontal shield, from which it gets its name. The coot is more closely associated with water than other species of our marsh birds, rarely coming ashore; when threatened, it dives into the water and hides in the reeds. The coot swims well but dives poorly. It takes off from the water with difficulty, always against the wind; it runs along the surface for a long time, splashing with its feet. Once airborne, it flies quite fast.
The coot inhabits various water bodies overgrown with marsh and shrub vegetation, predominantly freshwater. It prefers shallow water bodies where reeds alternate with open areas. In temperate latitudes, the coot is migratory, while in southern regions, it is sedentary. In spring, coots arrive relatively early, before all water bodies have thawed.
After arriving at their nesting sites, coots can be observed engaging in distinctive courtship displays. These displays involve birds gathering in groups on open water, chasing each other, flapping their wings on the water, and making characteristic calls. At the end of the displays, the birds pair off and begin building a nest.
Both the male and female build the nest. The coot's nest is usually placed among dense stands of aquatic plants—such as reeds and bulrush—and rests on their dead stems. Its base always touches the water's surface or floats on it. The nest itself is a fairly large, carelessly constructed mound or platform made of stems and leaves from dead aquatic plants, with a depression in the center. The bowl is lined with wet leaves from reeds, sedges, and other plants, which both birds wash in water for a long time beforehand. After drying, the bowl becomes sturdy, smooth, and shiny. The dimensions of the coot's nest are: nest diameter 26-39 cm, nest height 11-20 cm, bowl diameter up to 23 cm. There are observations that, in addition to the main nest, the male builds a second one where it spends resting hours.
As soon as the nest is completed, the birds immediately start laying eggs. The timing of the start of laying varies significantly across different latitudes, occurring from the second half of April to the end of May. A complete clutch contains from 4 to 15 eggs, but more often 6-9 eggs of gray-sandy or light-clay color with dense, even speckling. Egg sizes: 47 - 57 x 33-39 mm. Both parents incubate the eggs for about 22 days. When leaving the nest, the coot does not cover its clutch, which results in many eggs being lost to marsh harriers, crows, and other predators. The hatched chicks, covered in dense down, leave the nest as soon as they dry. The brood is initially accompanied by both members of the pair. The parents very selflessly protect the chicks from attacks by the marsh harrier—the main enemy of the coot.
The broods always stay close to reed and other thickets, where they hide at the slightest danger. Even very small downy chicks move with surprising agility in the thickets. The chicks grow extremely quickly. When the young reach about half the size of adults, the males begin to molt their flight feathers and lose the ability to fly. Soon they gather in flocks and move to the most feeding and sheltered areas. The mass molting of males occurs from late June to mid-August. After the males leave for molting, the females remain with the broods, starting their molting about 10 days later than the males. At the beginning of molting, the females stay with the broods, but then leave them and join the molting flocks of males. From this time on, the young lead an independent life. During the peak of feather molting, coots lead a very secretive lifestyle, rarely seen and almost never leaving the dense vegetation. After the old birds regrow their wings and the young grow up, coots begin to gather in flocks, gradually increasing in size. At this time, they start appearing on open water areas, and gradually the entire mass of coots that had been hiding in the reeds moves to the expansive open waters. Here, coots feed and spend the whole day, retreating to the reeds only for the night. Gradually, the coots begin to migrate south, transitioning into a mass departure. The start of this coincides with a drop in temperature. The autumn migration of coots begins in the northern part of their range in early September and stretches in different parts of the range until the end of October and even mid-November. They fly at night in small groups and singles, as well as in very large flocks of thousands.
The coot primarily feeds on plant matter and, to a lesser extent, animal food. From plant sources, it consumes green parts and seeds of pondweeds, hornworts, reeds, duckweeds, and other aquatic plants; from animal sources, it eats aquatic insects and their larvae, mollusks, and very rarely fish fry. The composition of the diet changes both in different seasons and in various parts of the range. The coot is the only species among the marsh birds that has significant commercial value. As a mass species, it is hunted in large numbers at nesting sites and along migration routes. By autumn, coots become very fat, and their meat has good taste qualities at this time.
Red Book