{"id":45167,"date":"2017-02-21T06:29:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T13:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=45167"},"modified":"2024-09-04T09:23:32","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T14:23:32","slug":"comparing-common-gallinules-and-american-coots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/21\/comparing-common-gallinules-and-american-coots\/","title":{"rendered":"Comparing Common Gallinules and American Coots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Common Gallinules and American Coots are both from the Rallidae<\/em> family and there are some similarities in their appearance, for instance both have a triangular bill with a frontal shield at the top.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Gallinule wing lift – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/400, ISO 250, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Both are chicken-like waterbirds that people often mistake for ducks and both have chicks that many people say are rather homely. They both have very large feet compared to the size of the bodies and the primary shade of their plumage is dark.<\/p>\n

Common Gallinules have red bills with yellow tips and greenish to yellow legs that have red to orange “garters” at the top. Their feet have no lobes and are not webbed. Adults have dark cinnamon to maroon colored eyes. As adults there are some brown tones on their rumps.<\/p>\n

Common Gallinule bills remind me of candy corn.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot starting to flap its wings – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

American Coots have ivory white bills with a dark ring near the tip and a dark frontal shield (normally) and greenish legs. Their feet are lobed but not webbed. As adults American Coots have vibrant red eyes and they have dark gray to black plumage with very limited brown tones for the most part.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Gallinule feeding – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Common Gallinules have white stripes on their flanks and extensive white on their undertail coverts.<\/p>\n

\"FeedingFeeding Coot – Nikon D200, f9, 1\/320, ISO 320, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 314mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

American Coots do not have white stripes on their flanks and have limited white on their undertail coverts and most of the time the white does not show unless they have their short tails lifted to preen, feeding with their heads underwater, when they are alert or when they are used in a paired display.<\/p>\n

American Coots are larger than Common Gallinules in length, wingspan and weight. Both species prefer the same kind of habitat.<\/p>\n

I saw plenty of American Coots and Common Gallinules when I lived in Florida but here in Utah I have only seen American Coots. There are many confirmed sightings of Common Gallinules in Utah though so I will keep an eye out for them, it would be nice to see and photograph them again.<\/p>\n

The strong wind is howling outside my window this morning and has been since yesterday, it is starting to get to me now. I may be stuck indoors again.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Coot photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Common Gallinule photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

Images taken at: <\/em>
\n1. Lake Carillon, Pinellas County, Florida (2009)<\/em>
\n2. Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah (2015)<\/em>
\n3. Roosevelt Wetland, Pinellas County, Florida (2009)<\/em>
\n4. Salt Lake County, Utah (2009)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Common Gallinules and American Coots are both from the Rallidae family and there are some similarities in their appearance, for instance both have a triangular bill with a frontal shield at the top. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,124,27,1148,1752,25,5682,2000,862,709,26],"tags":[4010,4366,2418,4978,4804,4982,2772,2773,4040,4121,4454,12270,12271,4094,1984,9859,3964,12035,3996,4095,4135],"class_list":["post-45167","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-common-gallinules","category-florida","category-lake-carillon","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-roosevelt-wetlands","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-american-coot","tag-cattails","tag-common-gallinule","tag-common-moorhen","tag-comparing","tag-comparison","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-feeding","tag-fulica-americana","tag-gallinula-galeata","tag-gallinule","tag-gallinules","tag-marsh","tag-pond","tag-similarities","tag-stretching","tag-versus","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-wing-lift"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/common-gallinule-stretch-mia-mcpherson-3428.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bKv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5921,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/21\/common-gallinule-adult\/","url_meta":{"origin":45167,"position":0},"title":"Common Gallinule adult","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Not that long ago Common Gallinules (Gallinula galeata) were called Common Moorhens (Gallinula chloropus), it will take me some time to get used to the new name.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Gallinule adult, Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/common-gallinule-adult-mia-mcpherson-2954.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/common-gallinule-adult-mia-mcpherson-2954.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-flapping-mia-mcpherson-3663.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-flapping-mia-mcpherson-3663.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-flapping-mia-mcpherson-3663.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-flapping-mia-mcpherson-3663.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":45167,"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, 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One of the birds I photographed was this teen-aged American Coot with swirly reflections around it.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Teen-aged American Coot in August, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/american-coot-teenager-and-fun-sky-reflections-mia-mcpherson-6757.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/american-coot-teenager-and-fun-sky-reflections-mia-mcpherson-6757.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/american-coot-teenager-and-fun-sky-reflections-mia-mcpherson-6757.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/american-coot-teenager-and-fun-sky-reflections-mia-mcpherson-6757.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4247,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/01\/29\/american-coots-birds-to-rail-about\/","url_meta":{"origin":45167,"position":4},"title":"American Coots – Birds To Rail About","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"American Coots are the most widely distributed members of the Rail family in North America and are very abundant in habitats with open water.","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 standing on bronze colored ice and water, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-golden-ice-mia-mcpherson-1112.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-golden-ice-mia-mcpherson-1112.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-golden-ice-mia-mcpherson-1112.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-golden-ice-mia-mcpherson-1112.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4875,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/25\/whoops-american-coot-on-thin-ice\/","url_meta":{"origin":45167,"position":5},"title":"Whoops – American Coot On Thin Ice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Some images are simply too funny not to share. Even with those huge feet this American Coot (Fulica americana) couldn't stay in top of the ice at a pond near where I live in Salt Lake County, Utah.","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 falling through ice, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-ice-mia-mcpherson-8219.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-ice-mia-mcpherson-8219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-ice-mia-mcpherson-8219.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-ice-mia-mcpherson-8219.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}