American Coot

Fulica americana

Not a duck. Lobed toes, white bill, and a willingness to pick fights with anything on the pond.

Population: ~7.1 million (Partners in Flight global breeding population estimate, per Cornell All About Birds)
Habitat: Freshwater wetlands — reed-ringed lakes and ponds, open marshes, prairie potholes, swamps, and slow-moving rivers; will use brackish or coastal/saltwater habitats temporarily in winter
Fun fact: American Coot parents can recognize their own first-hatched chick and use it as a template to identify and aggressively reject brood-parasitic chicks laid by other coots in their nest (conspecific brood parasitism affects roughly 40% of nests) — a rare ability among birds.
Range: Breeds from southern Canada (southeastern Alaska and Canada) across most of the United States; year-round resident across the Pacific coast and southwestern U.S./Mexico; winters through the southern U.S., Mexico, Central America (to Costa Rica/Panama), and the Caribbean/West Indies, with occasional records into northern South America
Diet: Omnivorous: mainly algae and aquatic plants (duckweed, eelgrass, wild rice, cattails, waterlilies), supplemented with arthropods, mollusks/snails, small fish and other vertebrates like tadpoles, and aquatic invertebrates (more animal matter taken during breeding season)
Size: 0.38 m
Wingspan: 0.65 m
Lifespan: 22 years

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