Eurasian Coot

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Eurasian coots or common coots have all black plumage with a white shield above a white bill. They are 36-38 cm in length with a wingspan of 70-80 cm. Juveniles can be brown or grey with a pale face and neck. They have brown-green legs which have lobed flaps of skin on the toes which function like webbed feet when swimming. When they fly, their feet patter across the water's surface to take off and their legs trail behind.

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Coots feed by making shallow dives in the water and grazing by the waterside. Their diet consists of vegetation, seeds and small animals like insect larvae.
The distinctive sound of this bird is a loud 'kwock' call.

 They are year-round residents in Britain but the winter population is boosted by an influx of migrating birds from north and east Europe that join in the south and west of Britain. Their estimated wintering population is 190,000 birds.
A coot's nest is a mound of plants built in shallow water in vegetation. They have 6-10 eggs in the nest which hatch after 21 days. Both parents work to feed the young for 30 days. The chicks will fly away at 55 days.

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