{"id":117565,"date":"2023-10-28T04:30:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T10:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=117565"},"modified":"2023-10-28T04:30:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T10:30:32","slug":"three-american-coots-side-by-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/28\/three-american-coots-side-by-side\/","title":{"rendered":"Three American Coots Side By Side"},"content":{"rendered":"

What’s better than having one coot in my viewfinder? I’d say having three American Coots side by side in my viewfinder at one time!<\/p>\n

\"ThreeThree American Coots in autumn \u2013 Nikon D500, f18, 1\/200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I spotted these three coots while I was on the auto tour loop at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a> last Monday. When I parked my Jeep across the water from them, I could see that they were preening. I waited, hoping that I could get eye contact with all three coots, and I was able to capture that in a few of the photos I took.<\/p>\n

Two of the coots in this photo are adults, one is a hatch-year bird. Can you tell which is the younger coot?<\/p>\n

I’ll give you a few clues.<\/p>\n

The bills of the adults are ivory white, and the spots near the tip of their bills are dark grayish-brown. The younger bird’s bill is more pinkish-white, and the spots near the tip of its bill are lighter gray. Additionally, the younger bird has slightly lighter plumage than the adults on its breast, neck, and head.<\/p>\n

Have you figured out which coot is the hatch-year bird?<\/p>\n

Yes, you’ve got it; it’s the coot on the right!<\/p>\n

I’ve been watching the American Coots<\/span><\/a> at one of the ponds close to home for the past several weeks during my walks. Their numbers are increasing on the pond, and, wow, they’re getting feisty. There have been quite a few coot chases and a few serious-looking fights.<\/p>\n

I’ve also been looking for the leucistic American Coot<\/span><\/a> that I found and shared at the pond in January of this year, but so far I haven’t seen it.<\/p>\n

As abundant as American Coots are, I don’t often pass on the opportunity to photograph them. I like these coots too much to let them go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my American Coot photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What’s better than having one coot in my viewfinder? I’d say having three American Coots side by side in my viewfinder at one time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,124,27,1148,26],"tags":[4004,4010,970,2772,2773,4620,4121,5381,4341,4094,5324,4059,6428,3996,4095,14515],"class_list":["post-117565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-coots","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-coot","tag-autumn","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-fall","tag-fulica-americana","tag-hatch-year","tag-hatch-year-bird","tag-marsh","tag-marsh-habitat","tag-phragmites","tag-phrags","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-younger"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-coot-trio-marsh-mia-mcpherson-5457.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-uAd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":141796,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/20\/american-coots-on-lower-scarborough-slough\/","url_meta":{"origin":117565,"position":0},"title":"American Coots On Lower Scarborough Slough","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Lately, I\u2019ve been seeing hundreds of American Coots at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, and a few days ago, I photographed some on Lower Scarborough Slough.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An American Coot floats on silky deep-to-light blue water, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-coot-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-8580.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-coot-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-8580.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Coot reflections, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/american-coot-reflections-mia-mcpherson-3412.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/american-coot-reflections-mia-mcpherson-3412.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/american-coot-reflections-mia-mcpherson-3412.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/american-coot-reflections-mia-mcpherson-3412.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42736,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/20\/american-coots-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":117565,"position":2},"title":"American Coots in Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"American Coots have interesting behaviors that I like to try to capture, for instance the way they run across the surface of the water during territorial chases.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coot standing on ice, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-winter-mia-mcpherson-1236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-winter-mia-mcpherson-1236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-winter-mia-mcpherson-1236.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-winter-mia-mcpherson-1236.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55009,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/16\/charging-american-coot-portrait-communicating-by-posture\/","url_meta":{"origin":117565,"position":3},"title":"Charging American Coot Portrait – Communicating By Posture","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this American Coot in February when parts of my local pond were frozen which caused a restriction in the space where the coots, ducks, geese and grebes could feed and there were many territorial squabbles to photograph.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Charging American Coot portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-attack-posture-mia-mcpherson-3218.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-attack-posture-mia-mcpherson-3218.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-attack-posture-mia-mcpherson-3218.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-attack-posture-mia-mcpherson-3218.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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