Urban birds at Hull. 46. Coot

Coots are quite familiar birds, being a common bird of park lakes, however, many people have trouble and confuse the names of Coots and Moornen, which although related, are very different birds. Coots are larger and slate black, with white bills with a frontal shield and unusual lobed feet. The tail is very short. Males and females look alike. They are bold, noisy and aggressive birds, and are often squabbling or chasing other Coots (unlike Moorhens, which are usually quite retiring) or other birds. Coots obtain much of their food by diving to pick underwater plants, weed, seeds and small invertebrates which they eat back on the surface. They will also feed on dead fish. Their dives are quite short in duration, as they are very buoyant. 

Coot's feet. East Park, 31/10/2018.

Status and distribution in Hull

Coots are locally common resident birds. They will make local migratory movements in the winter in response, to icy conditions. Hull also receives a contingent of wintering Coots from Northern Europe. Coots live in still or slow moving bodies of water like drains, lakes, large ponds or reservoirs. Although they prefer to feed in water, they will also graze in the grass away from water, especially during winter. They can be found along the Barmston Drain, at Pickering Park, East Park, Half-tide Basin, Oak Road Lake, Noddle Hill fishing lake, and Kingswood Reservoir when water is present. There is an occasional presence at Pearson Park, where a pair bred in 2024. In the winter, they can also be found on the Humber.

A Coot on its nest at Barmston Drain at Sculcoates, 5/04/2022. Coots make bulky and exposed floating nests, attached to marginal vegetation.

This pair of Coots have four grown chicks, which were resting nearby, but are starting their second brood. One of the pair brings some nest material and passes it delicately to the bird on the nest. Barmston Drain at Sculcoates, 6/05/2025.

Two Coots on a territorial confrontation. East Park, 25/04/2022. Both members of each pair fight it off, individuals facing each other with wings and rear raised.

14/06/2022. A family of coots at East Park with grown juvenile (begging) and two young chicks. Coots in the area will often have two broods, although, unlike Moorhens, the young from the first brood do not help parents raise their siblings.

Adult Coot feeding chick. East Park, 14/06/2022.

Conservation

Coots are Green listed in the UK. Populations have fluctuated, although they increased in the UK up until 2005, they have declined since 2005. Milder winters in Northern Europe might mean fewer Coots come over in the winter.

More information

Broughton, R.K. 2002. Birds of the Hull Area.

BTO Birdfacts. Coot.