Andean Coot

Overview

The Andean coot, also known as the slate-coloured coot, is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is found across the Andes and coastal areas of South America, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Identification

• Length of 40 to 43 cm, mostly slaty grey with a darker head and neck, and white-tipped secondaries.
• Exists in two colour morphs: one with a chrome yellow bill, deep chesnut frontal shield, and green legs; the other with a white bill, white to orange-yellow frontal shield, and slaty legs.
• Usual vocalisations include a low 'churr' or a harder 'hrrp', often repeated, while females produce a low chitter.

Habitat

Primarily inhabits large lakes with heavily vegetated shallows, though also found in sparsely vegetated lakes, ponds, marshes, and rivers. The nominate subspecies occurs between 2,100 and 4,700 m elevation, while F. a. atrura ranges from 2,200 to 3,600 m in Colombia and lower in Ecuador and Peru.

Diet

The diet consists mostly of aquatic vegetation, with Chara, Myriophyllum, and Elodea being common components. It forages by diving as deep as 5 m and by walking on floating vegetation, often feeding gregariously with other coot species.

Did you know?

High-elevation populations have adapted physiologically to low-oxygen environments by developing more capillaries per square millimetre of muscle than those at sea level.