SREL Reprint #3459

American Coot (Fulica americana)

I. Lehr Brisbin, Jr.1 and Thomas B. Mowbray2

Hawaiian Coot (Fulica alai)

H. Douglas Pratt3 and I. Lehr Brisbin, Jr.1

1Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802
2Department of Biology, Salem College, Winston-Salem, NC 27108
3Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-3216

American Coot (Fulica americana): As one of the continent's most familiar wetland birds, the plump, dark-gray, chickenlike American Coot (hereafter, coot), with its black head and neck and distinctive white bill and frontal shield, is easily the most aquatic, most abundant and widely distributed species of rail in North America. As a regular short- to medium-distance migrant, this coot may be found at one season or another in almost any of a broad variety of wetlands, including freshwater lakes, ponds, marshes, roadside ditches, and industrial-waste impoundments, as well as in coastal marine habitats. It breeds almost exclusively in freshwater marshes, with the largest breeding concentrations in the Prairie-Pothole Region of the southern Canadian Prairie Provinces and north-central United States. Inland reservoirs and other large bodies of open water are frequently used in winter, with coots often forming large rafts of many thousands of individuals. . .
Hawaiian Coot (Fulica alai): The endemic coot of the Hawaiian Islands was long regarded as a subspecies of the American Coot (Fulica americana). Like all endemic Hawaiian wetland birds, the Hawaiian Coot is an Endangered Species, but it is by far the most numerous member of that sad assemblage. Because the Hawaiian Islands' now severely restricted wetland habitats are often found in proximity to beaches, golf courses, and other places frequented by residents and visitors, the Hawaiian Coot is a familiar sight in the islands, despite its status. As such, this species may be a good indicator of the health of Hawaiian Islands wetlands. The coot also plays a prominent role in Hawaiian folklore, being regarded as a deity with many worshippers, although native Hawaiians, who captured it by running it down or by pelting it with stones, considered it good eating (Malo 1951: 39). . .

SREL Reprint #3459

Brisbin Jr., I. L., H. D. Pratt, and T. B. Mowbray. 2002. American Coot (Fulica americana) and Hawaiian Coot (Fulica alai). pp. 1-43 In: A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill (Eds.). The Birds of North America, No. 697. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).