{"id":44293,"date":"2016-12-14T05:09:43","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T12:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=44293"},"modified":"2016-12-14T05:09:43","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T12:09:43","slug":"busybody-coots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/14\/busybody-coots\/","title":{"rendered":"Busybody Coots"},"content":{"rendered":"

American Coots are raucous and quarrelsome birds that can be counted on to stick their noses into everybody else’s business. That personality trait provides countless interesting\u00a0opportunities for the photographer who’s prepared to take advantage of them.<\/p>\n

Each of these images was taken two days ago at a pond near my home.<\/p>\n

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\"american-coot-0526b-ron-dudley\"1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Coots are enthusiastic kleptoparasites and will take every opportunity to steal food from their own and other species, even if that food isn’t typically part of their diet. Though they’re primarily herbivores and don’t often eat fish\u00a0they will if given the\u00a0chance (I’ve photographed them eating fish several times) – especially if they can steal it from its rightful owner.<\/p>\n

When this Pied-billed Grebe surfaced with a small fish the coot rushed in immediately to see if it could take advantage of the situation. It almost rode on the back of the grebe as the smaller but much quicker\u00a0bird tried to down the fish before it had to fight for it or\u00a0flee\u00a0with it. In this case the grebe successfully swallowed the fish but the coot was fully prepared to snatch it away if the opportunity presented itself.<\/p>\n

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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A few minutes earlier the coot on the right who already had a beak-full of food decided that one of its nearby buddies had even more of it and it might be worth stealing so it moved in to\u00a0attempt exactly that. I fired my shutter just as the coot on the left reacted to the intrusion and began to make its getaway.\u00a0For me the fact that both birds have food and the reaction of the coot on the left make this photo an interesting one – the poses and the eye contact between them make the tension between the birds almost palpable.<\/p>\n

For me it’s the pugnacious nature of American Coots that makes them such an interesting photo subject. Cornell’s Birds of North America Online puts it this way:<\/p>\n