^ Coot chorus A flock of aggressive coots guards its territory with a chorus of loud calls. When swimming on the water surface, American coots exhibit a variety of interesting collective formations, including single-file lines, high density synchronized swimming and rotational dynamics, broad arcing formations, and sequential take-off dynamics. # An American coot's age is revealed by its vibrant tarsal (foot) color: green at 1 year, yellow-green at 2 years, yellow at 3 and orange-red at 4 or older. It is built from last year’s grass vegetation and looks like a loose pile of garbage. Nesting success is usually over 80%, mainly due to the parents' steadfast defense of the nest throughout courtship, incubation and fledging. Yellowhammer banner image © David Quinn. Coots are monogomous; they mate on land or on their platform nests, which are built by both sexes from reeds, grasses and cattails.The female usually lays about 9-10 eggs with dark-brown spots, and the pair takes turns incubating the eggs for 21-25 days.The chicks are covered with down and are able to swim and dive soon after hatching, but they return to the nest for frequent brooding and are fed by the parents for two weeks, becoming independent over the next 5-8 weeks. Seeds, roots and leaves of pondweeds, water milfoil, burweed, smartweed and banana water lily are favorites, but the bird also eats wild celery as well as sprouting and waste grain. Here the pair are mating on some flattened reeds. Breeding season dates for key breeding species in Scotland The attached table shows 'sensitive' time periods, equating to the beginning and end of a bird's breeding season in Scotland. [ • The American coot is [ one of 11 species in the i genus Fulica, which contains the common coot, I F. atra, and the Hawaiian coot, F. alai, which was once considered a subspecies of the American coot. Often seen standing along shorelines or on big weed-matted nest mounds. The species is now widespread across Cheshire but Coots are missing from much of the highest land, in the east of Cheshire and in the Delamere area: they need water with abundant supplies of floating or submerged vegetation to provide the diet for themselves and their chicks. Some locations hold quite high numbers of Coots. ► Tasty treat A dabbling coot snatches a quick afternoon snack. Summary of nesting phenology of birds in Canada. Accuracy of the nesting predictions, species analyzed, exceptions, Project NestWatch. When nesting season rolls around, American coots … Birds breeding in Canada. The American coot and the ivory-billed woodpecker are the only North American birds with white bills. The American coot migrates north from February through May and begins nesting within two weeks of its arrival. The coot is extremely aggressive during the breeding season — it staunchly defends its territory against invasions, especially by other members of its species. Regular, non-nesting-season predators include great horned owls, northern harriers, bald eagles, golden eagles, american alligators, bobcats, great black-backed and california gulls. In the last decade, at least ten broods in a year have been recorded at many of the county’s well-watched sites: Chelford SQs, Radnor Mere, Sandbach Flashes, Budworth Mere, Moore Nature Reserve and Inner Marsh Farm. During nesting season, coots require habitats with shallow water and tall, dense thickets of reeds where to build their nests. Coots usually rear only one brood, but may have multiple nesting attempts until they are successful, so the breeding season can extend from March to July. This is an easy species to prove breeding, with 80% of records being two-letter codes. This coot nest contains two eggs (darker than the others) laid by a parasite. Report a problem or mistake on this page . During the nesting season, coots begin to avoid fast rivers and open water, moving into shallow water conditions in reeds, reeds or sedges.The coot nest can rest on the bottom, but in most cases it is buoyant. The American coot is extremely noisy and its wetland haunts are often filled with a bustling medley of various calls. — far heavier than its American cousin. Coots appear to benefit from many waterfowl management activities across the U.S., but wetland loss has reduced numbers in some states, including both Iowa and Minnesota.