Nature Bulletin No. 42   November 24, 1945
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Clayton F. Smith, President
Roberts Mann, Superintendent of Conservation

****:COOPS

In the lakes and ponds of the forest preserves, and along the shores of 
Lake Michigan, from late September until late November, one may see 
l'rafts" of black, duck-like birds with small, jet-black heads and pointed, 
ivory-white beaks. They tend to gang up, hang together, and move in 
unison like soldiers. Unlike ducks, which glide along, these birds seem 
to "walk" ,in the water, thrusting their heads forward and back with 
each paddle-stroke of their feet. They dive quickly and well, but rise 
from the water with difficulty, assisting their long "take-off" by rapidly 
spanking the water behind them with their feet. These are coots, 
commonly known here as "muddiness. "

They are not ducks but belong to the same family as the rails and the 
gallinules which are wading birds or shore-birds. The coot' s feet are 
not webbed like a duck. The long toes each have wide, wide lobes on 
each side, and a long claw. When captured alive they viciously scratch 
with these claws and stab and bite with their sharp-pointed beaks. The 
males and females appear to be exactly alike although there are slight 
differences which can be detected by an expert and careful 
measurements.

When disturbed, they fly only short distances, a few feet above the 
water. Apparently they migrate only at night. They are never seen 
entering or leaving a body of water nor on land away from a shoreline. 
But, clumsily as they seem to fly, records show that they cover long 
distances in record time. Coots banded and released in the forest 
preserves have been captured or killed in southern Louisiana 12 days 
later, whereas, the record for any duck is 28 days. They have been 
captured or killed on the New Jersey coast 6 days after being banded 
here, in the West Indies 35 days after being banded, and in Tapioca, 
Mexico, 64 days after being banded.

Coots are mistakenly neglected by game management authorities, and 
by hunters, as a valuable game bird. Most people do not know that they 
must be skinned rather than plucked, nor how to cook them properly. 
They cook much more quickly than ducks, and are delicious when fried, 
stewed or made into "hasenpfeffer" . The coot is one species of 
waterfowl that seems to be increasing in numbers. It is seriously 
competing with ducks for the available food in both their wintering 
grounds and their summer breeding grounds.