Some bird behaviors are difficult to explain.
Yesterday I noticed that the American Coot in my viewfinder was beginning to act very strangely. “He’ had been feeding calmly so he had a beak-full of vegetation but suddenly he began to make a weird fuss in the water as he glanced skyward. He tried to dive a single time but I believe the water may have been too shallow for a dive to serve his purposes.
I had no idea what was going on, or what might be about to happen, but my instincts told me to fire off a burst so that’s what I did.
1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
All the fuss was caused by an aggressive gull coming in for a sneak attack.
Typically gulls don’t bother adult coots so I have no clue why this one would make such an attack. I’m pretty sure it had no interest in the vegetation in the coots bill as food, nor do I believe it was a squabble over feeding territory. And I doubt a gull would try to kill an apparently healthy adult coot and eat it. Maybe the gull was testing the coot to see if it was vulnerable for some reason.
Or perhaps it just had a chip on its shoulder.
Because the coot couldn’t dive to escape, he defended himself with an aggressive threat display so the gull never quite made contact. As a result, the near-fight ended with a whimper as the gull vamoosed.
Sometimes the motivations for bird behaviors are mysterious but I believe that only makes them more interesting.
Ron
That ol’ coot was not having it!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “Gulls can be d!cks!” Fortunately, coots can be bigger ones! 😉
Congrats on a thrilling shot, Ron!
“Gulls can be d!cks”
I wouldn’t argue with you, Marty. I do my best to appreciate gulls as much as any other bird but sometimes I fall short.
Great moment!
Thanks, Kent.
Such a dramatic photograph! The gull certainly does look intent on badness. I’m glad the coot was able to counter the attack – from some of your other posts, they look like they can be quite fierce, too. But the gull looks so much bigger, and really looks like it’s coming in fast. Whew!
Carolyn, the whole attack was very fast and it was over in not much more than a second. I didn’t really know what happened until I looked at my photos.
I’ll go with California Gull (“diagnostic red & black spot near tip of yellow bill”) — and though this may be sheer anthropomorphizing, I’d venture to guess Gully was testing the coot just because. Bullies are everywhere. 😕
“Bullies are everywhere” – especially in the gull world, Chris.
Glad you followed your instincts and decided to fire off a burst. Clearly a thought-provoking image.
Given Gulls’ penchant for kleptoparasitism, I’m leaning towards applying Occam’s Razor and going with the first comment by William.
Lyle, going for the simplest explanation is often a winning formula.
I do love your behavioural series. They are always fascinating even (perhaps particularly) when they are a mystery to me. Thank you.
Thanks, EC.
Great photo. This may or may not have been attempted predation, and we rarely see predation in nature. It happens all the time, but we rarely witness it. We may come across indirect evidence (feathers, bones, etc.), but to actually witness it is a privilege, what I call a gift from Mother Nature. Even John Muir commented, somewhat surprisingly, “I never saw one drop of blood, one red stain on all this wilderness.”
https://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/mountain_thoughts.aspx
Some interesting thoughts, Patrick. I’ve been lucky enough to witness it a few times.
Me too. It’s interesting that the humanitarian in us wants to intervene, but predation is an integral part of nature. It is still upsetting to see say a fawn killed by a bobcat. But that’s nature.
Hi Ron,
I once saw a Western Gull take a Coot that was in very shallow water. The gull hit the Coot, dragged it toward the shore and, with multiple blows from its beak, eventually subdued/drowned the Coot prior to consuming it. Since the gull was not equipped with a raptor’s beak & talons, it took quite a while. NOT a pretty sight. And, my Christmas Bird Count team witnessed a similar occurrence between a Western Gull and a female Bufflehead(!). No punchline here, except to say that perhaps these things happen more frequently than we think…
Cheers,
Dick
Cheers,
Dick
“perhaps these things happen more frequently than we think”
I believe they do, Dick – with gulls especially. They’re big (most of them), they’re strong and they’re very opportunistic when it comes to food.
Great shot!
I’ve photographed gulls for the last 5 years and based on my limited experience would have said they do not eat other birds.
After a bit of Googling I found that my experience is indeed limited and that gulls will indeed eat all kinds of things. I found this article (https://extra.ie/2022/07/15/news/seagulls-eating-pigeons) which contained a discussion of animals that gulls will eat, and that included the following text:
“seagulls eating pigeons seems to be quite a common thing as revealed in a short documentary filmed in England in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens by Johanna van de Woestijne. Johanna reveals that the notorious pigeon-killers are called Lesser Black-Backed Gull.
Ralph Hancock, who narrates the video, explains that the Lesser Black-Backed Gull is: ‘A big gull, with unusually deep yellow legs.
‘There is a distinctive ring of black dots around the yellow-green iris of his eye.'”
Robert, gulls regularly eat eggs and chicks of other birds, including other gulls.
Here’s an interesting snippet from Cornell’s Birds of the World – “at localities around Great Salt Lake, waterfowl production increased after California Gull “control” program was initiated.”
Seagulls are quite congregational and in the air or on land, one bird in a group seems to be a “bully” intimidating the others with ruffled feathers, loud squawks, or a hurried walk that says, “Get out of my sight!” The others are compliant, I’ve never seen a fight.
“Seagulls are quite congregational”
Which is why there was an entire flock of them on the pond, Terri.
Ditto, I’ve seen gulls intimidate other gulls, but never have I seen them fight.
What I have seen is gulls playing a “catch me if you can” game with other gulls, where a gull will show other gulls something in its beak, which provokes a chase where a group of up to 5 or 6 gulls will attempt to catch up with the provocateur.
Funny birds! I;m always amused by gulls too.
Strange encounter. There you are getting a shot of it.
I don’t know gull identification all that well. Immature birds of all kinds will try and do the strangest things.
“I don’t know gull identification all that well”
Neither do I, Michael – which is why I didn’t assign a common name to this one. I suspect it’s a California Gull but don’t know that for fact.
Wow! Amazing catch! I think the hill thought the coot had something much better to steal to eat! Lovely detail on the hill. I do so enjoy your photography!
” I do so enjoy your photography”
Good to know, Beth. Thanks.
Strange! I think most of the gulls here are closer in size to the coot so unlikely such an attack would occur……… Always something unexpected – doesn’t get boring that way… 😉 Glad your caught it!
Thanks, Judy. Me too.
Something I have never seen, although we only get Ring-billed gulls here and occasionally Bonaparte. We only get small flocks of gulls at our lakes here in Prescott probably from the Pacific or the Gulf. Can’t imagine why a gull would attack a Coot unless it has a vision problem and thought it was a fish. I have seen both our Northern Harriers and Prairie Falcons take down a Coot, and of course eagles may as well although I have never seen that.
Everett, around here Bald Eagles prey fairly regularly on coots. Or scavenge them. Or steal them from other birds, like Prairie Falcons.
Wondering if the gull mistakenly thought the vegetation in the coot’s bill was a fish.
William, I suppose it’s possible but personally I’m skeptical.