American Coot

Description:

These are the feet of a coot. The thing that immediately impresses you about this creature are their incredible feet. In a natural world of fantastic feet these peds are over the top – more like pea pods than duck feet. Well, part of that discrepancy can be explained because Coots are not ducks at all. They are members of the rail family. Most rails are small-bodied secretive waders who sneak through the muddy spaces in the marsh undergrowth. Coots, on the other hand, are colonial and aquatic. They play the part of the “crazy uncle” within the rail world and dress up in a costume that makes them look like a chicken in a duck outfit. Ducks have fully webbed feet, however, and coots have only partially webbed toes. One wouldn’t think that this bird could ever walk on land with those over-sized green and blue feet. Oddly enough, not only can they walk on land, they frequently do perform the task – and do it well. Coots can even run if pressed to do so. John James Audubon once described a scene where he witnessed a veritable herd of coots rumbling over the landscape adjacent to a river. He said they looked for all the world like Guinea Hens. Audubon shot into that herd’o coots and killed four birds outright (not for food, but as artistic subjects). The rest flew out over the river where he continued to pursue them. On terra firma, the long slender toes are allowed to spread out to provide support. In the water the lobes flare out with each backstroke and withdraw as the feet are brought forward. An underside view reveals that the lobes fold back like airplane flaps . These feet are perfectly designed multi-tasking tools. During the breeding season coots even duke out their differences using their feet. They will go at each other like kick boxers until the issue is settled (when the old coot is defeated by the crazy young coot).

Notes:

picture 2 shows how it works it's feet on the ground.