{"id":43914,"date":"2016-12-14T06:33:47","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T13:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=43914"},"modified":"2025-10-08T07:32:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T12:32:16","slug":"american-coot-being-chased-for-its-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/14\/american-coot-being-chased-for-its-food\/","title":{"rendered":"American Coot Being Chased For Its Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Coot being chased for the food in its bill – Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent some time photographing birds nearby at a local pond two days ago and along with the Double-crested Cormorant<\/span><\/a> with the large fish I also photographed American Coots feeding and fighting on the pond earlier in the morning.<\/p>\n

With the winter sun so low on the horizon I have to be on the southeast side of the pond to have the sun on my back and because of where I stand to photograph the birds quite often the water picks up the colors of the houses near and above the pond on a hill as reflections on the water.<\/p>\n

Sometimes those reflections make the water appear almost surreal, from liquid silver to molten copper with streaks of radiant blues from the sky overhead.<\/p>\n

I felt I needed to explain the color of the reflections because they are so different from the beginning of this series of images than they are at the end.<\/p>\n

I was watching one American Coot dive into the water to bring up submerged aquatic vegetation to eat when I noticed another coot acting like it might try to grab the food from the coot I was focused on so I checked my exposure to prepare for some action and I am glad I did because the chase started almost immediately!<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot running across a pond – Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The coot that was chasing the one in my images was always too far behind the one being pursued to have it in the frame but I loved the action I was able to capture as the coot ran across the water with its food in its bill.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot scooting across a pond with food in its bill – Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

My Nikon D500 handled tracking the coot with ease so I didn’t miss a shot of the action happening in front of me.<\/p>\n

The high burst rate of the D500 combined with what is essentially an unlimited buffer by using an XQD memory card has really impressed me and allowed me to focus on the action without worrying about filling my buffer.<\/p>\n

I can not say how many images I have missed in the past because my buffer filled at the wrong moment.<\/p>\n

\"ScootingScooting American Coot – Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Coot seemed to turn its head a few times to see if it was still being chased and when it saw that it was it it kept scooting across the surface of the pond and always kept its bill clamped down on its food.<\/p>\n

In this frame the reflections are a mix of silvers and coppers.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot being pursued – Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I am assuming that when the coot felt like it needed more speed it flapped its wings hard to propel it forward. It showed that behavior a few times.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what the bright, white reflection was caused by in this frame, I am going to have to go to the pond and figure that out.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot evading another coot – Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of this action packed series of images the American Coot slowed down in an area with copper colored reflections.<\/p>\n

Right after this frame another out of focus coot was at the bottom of the left side of the frame that obscured the full view of the coot I had been photographing so I stopped shooting before the coot ate its well deserved food.<\/p>\n

I like the silver and copper colored reflections in these American Coot<\/span><\/a> images but know that is simply a matter of taste and that other people might not like them as much.<\/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":"

The American Coot seemed to turn its head a few times to see if it was still being chased and when it saw that it was it it kept scooting across the surface of the pond and always kept its bill clamped down on its food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[137,27,709,26],"tags":[4004,4010,970,5552,5492,2772,2773,5553,4620,1130,4121,5550,958,4148,5551,8018],"class_list":["post-43914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-coots","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-coot","tag-autumn","tag-bill","tag-chased","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-evading","tag-fall","tag-food","tag-fulica-americana","tag-pursued","tag-reflections","tag-running","tag-scooting","tag-urban"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-being-chased-mia-mcpherson-2069.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bqi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118347,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/18\/one-cute-coot-scoot\/","url_meta":{"origin":43914,"position":0},"title":"One Cute Coot Scoot","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago, I was able to photograph one cute coot scooting past me at my local pond on a bright sunny Utah morning. The action tickled my funny bone.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Scooting Coot being chased, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-coot-scooting-fall-mia-mcpherson-7516.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-coot-scooting-fall-mia-mcpherson-7516.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-coot-scooting-fall-mia-mcpherson-7516.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-coot-scooting-fall-mia-mcpherson-7516.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2014","format":false,"excerpt":"American Coots are common birds and some folks might find them fairly plain but I like them and enjoy photographing them too.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Coot munching on food, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-coot-eating-mia-mcpherson-6359.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-coot-eating-mia-mcpherson-6359.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/american-coot-eating-mia-mcpherson-6359.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-chase-mia-mcpherson-1168.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-chase-mia-mcpherson-1168.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-chase-mia-mcpherson-1168.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-chase-mia-mcpherson-1168.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50454,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/02\/coots-coots-and-more-coots\/","url_meta":{"origin":43914,"position":4},"title":"Coots, Coots and More Coots","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The last birds I photographed in 2017 were American Coots and some of the first birds I took photos of in 2018 were also coots.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two American Coots involved in a chase, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-chase-mia-mcpherson-4807.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-chase-mia-mcpherson-4807.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-chase-mia-mcpherson-4807.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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