I do enjoy American Coots. Like Gallinule they swirl around, scream in fright, and walk on top of plants and water. Very cool birds.
In the photos below their feet can be seen. They don’t have webbed feet, they have ‘lobed toes’.
While not great for swimming the lobes let them run across the surface of water to get flight, walk on large plants, and are great for kicking other Coots. Coots tend to kick each other a lot.
Gallinules and Grebes also have toes that are lobed. On land the lobes fold over so the birds can get around out of the water.
The mystery of Coots walking on water isn’t all that complicated.
I enjoy these birds too. They are interesting to watch 🙂
First time I was able to get a good clean look at the feet..😂
I’ve sworn not to take another shot of Coot the rest of my life (much the same with butter-butts)- they are everywhere – Linda calls them chickens of the sea.
That’s the way I feel about Gallinules. Besides the fact they scream so loud it’s impossible to sneak into a marsh.