American Coot Gallery

American coot pulling plants from the nearly frozen water at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Ice Shelf

Winters in Portland are generally mild, but even we get the occasional cold snap. This one froze much of the water in the ponds at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, forcing the animals into close quarters in the open water that remained. The coots were actively foraging for plant life in the shallow open waters, like this coot feeding in front of a sheet of ice. The foraging not only fed the coots but helped keep the open areas from freezing.

American coot walking across ice at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

American coot standing on ice at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Ice Walk

Coots share many characteristics with ducks — such as how water beads up on their backs — but also have differences. Walking on land (or ice, as the case were), you get a good look at the coot’s enormous feet and can easily see that they are not webbed as they are with ducks.

American coot eating a plant at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Disguise

The bald eagles at Ridgefield NWR prey upon the American coots. Ridgefield hosts a sizable population of coots, so the eagles pose no threat to the sustainability of the coots, but this is little consolation to the individual coot that happens to find itself in the eagle’s large talons and shortly thereafter its stomach.

Evidence of evolution in action, lately the coots have adopted a new technique: disguise.

One such example is this coot, whose large mustache is in fact a plant stem clasped in its beak. Simple but effective, as an eagle approaching for the kill will swerve away at the last moment, thinking that it has accidentally stumbled across not an American coot but a French one, what with its crazy mustache and most likely an outrageous accent.

American coot eating plants at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Salad

A coot surfaces and finishes devouring the plant life it plucked from the bottom of a shallow channel, drops of water still clinging to its back.

American coot in aggressive pose as it chases off a nearby coot at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!

Coots are normally rather gregarious creatures, so its not unusual to see them feeding in small groups or even floating in large rafts. But when it comes time to choose a mate, even coots can get a little testy. This coot was getting an early start while it was yet winter, assuming an agressive posture and chasing off another coot from his little patch of water. A sudden cold snap had frozen most of the pond, so open water was hard to come by.

Swimming towards the other coot in this agressive pose seems to ward off most potential rivals, with the deposed coot getting a running start across the water surface before finally taking to the air.

American coot sitting on its nest at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Staring Contest

One of the classic decisions you have to make as a wildlife photographer — provided you have the time to even make the decision — is what to do with the animal’s gaze, particularly whether the animal should be looking directly at the viewer.

A direct gaze can enhance some pictures and destroy others, either adding intimacy or feeling like a violation of privacy. I like the direct gaze for this environmental portrait of a coot sitting on a nest in South Quigley Lake at Ridgefield.

The nest sits only a few inches above the waterline, mostly hidden by the tall grasses in this part of the lake. The first click of the camera’s shutter drew a sudden look from the coot, but immediately thereafter it completly ignored me the entire time I watched it. I saw the coot on several visits and it was on this last visit that I inched the car along until I found a clean view through the grasses to the nest.

	Disguise The bald eagles at Ridgefield NWR prey upon the American coots. Ridgefield hosts a sizable population of coots, so the eagles pose no threat to the sustainability of the coots, but this is little consolation to the individual coot that happens to find itself in the eagle’s large talons and shortly thereafter its stomach. Evidence of evolution in action, lately the coots have adopted a new technique: disguise. One such example is this coot, whose large mustache is in fact a plant stem clasped in its beak. Simple but effective, as an eagle approaching for the kill will swerve away at the last moment, thinking that it has accidentally stumbled across not an American coot but a French one, what with its crazy mustache and most likely an outrageous accent.
	Salad A coot surfaces and finishes devouring the plant life it plucked from the bottom of a shallow channel, drops of water still clinging to its back.
	Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! Coots are normally rather gregarious creatures, so its not unusual to see them feeding in small groups or even floating in large rafts. But when it comes time to choose a mate, even coots can get a little testy. This coot was getting an early start while it was yet winter, assuming an agressive posture and chasing off another coot from his little patch of water. A sudden cold snap had frozen most of the pond, so open water was hard to come by. Swimming towards the other coot in this agressive pose seems to ward off most potential rivals, with the deposed coot getting a running start across the water surface before finally taking to the air.
	Staring Contest One of the classic decisions you have to make as a wildlife photographer — provided you have the time to even make the decision — is what to do with the animal’s gaze, particularly whether the animal should be looking directly at the viewer. A direct gaze can enhance some pictures and destroy others, either adding intimacy or feeling like a violation of privacy. I like the direct gaze for this environmental portrait of a coot sitting on a nest in South Quigley Lake at Ridgefield. The nest sits only a few inches above the waterline, mostly hidden by the tall grasses in this part of the lake. The first click of the camera’s shutter drew a sudden look from the coot, but immediately thereafter it completly ignored me the entire time I watched it. I saw the coot on several visits and it was on this last visit that I inched the car along until I found a clean view through the grasses to the nest.