Common Coot: how to recognise it
A bird seen on most continents. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Wei Li Jiang · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Fulica atra
- Family
- Rails, Gallinules, and Coots
- Size
- About 38 cm
- Habitat
- Lakes, canals and park ponds
- Found in
- Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania
The key marks
All sooty black with a white bill and a white shield on the forehead. Moorhen is smaller, with a red shield, a yellow-tipped bill and a white line along the flank.
Voice
A loud, sharp 'kowk' and a hard 'pitt'.
Good to know
Its toes have broad lobes instead of webs, which work like paddles when it swims and dives.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Eurasian Moorhen. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in lakes, canals and park ponds. It is especially common in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Poland and Japan. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.