{"id":55009,"date":"2018-11-16T05:36:53","date_gmt":"2018-11-16T12:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=55009"},"modified":"2025-10-08T15:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:56:09","slug":"charging-american-coot-portrait-communicating-by-posture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/16\/charging-american-coot-portrait-communicating-by-posture\/","title":{"rendered":"Charging American Coot Portrait – Communicating By Posture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ChargingCharging American Coot portrait – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

During late fall, winter and spring I’m able to see and photograph American Coots at my local pond quite frequently.<\/p>\n

Because of that I’m able to observe many of their behaviors including some of their interactions where they communicate to coots and other birds just by using their posture.<\/p>\n

One of those postures is called “charging” where the American Coot extends its neck, lowers its head, enlarges its ruff while swimming forward rapidly towards an “intruder”.<\/p>\n

This behavior is usually exhibited when the coot wants to confront another bird that it feels has invaded its territory.<\/p>\n

There have been many times that I have observed other birds quickly leave the immediate area when they see a coot charging towards them.<\/p>\n

Coots aren’t just territorial during the nesting season, they can also be territorial other times of the year at foraging locations.<\/p>\n

I photographed this American Coot<\/span><\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

This coot came in close to where I sat in a vehicle using it as a mobile blind, so close that I could only take portraits of this bird.<\/p>\n

I know that some bird photographers would take a pass on photographing coots but for me not only do I find their behaviors interesting they are also a challenge to expose properly because of the high contrast between their dark plumage and ivory colored bills.<\/p>\n

I like challenges and having a bird in my viewfinder is always a good thing.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[137,27,709,26],"tags":[4004,4010,4226,6882,4142,6884,2772,2773,4121,10698,1984,4046,6883,8018,3996,373],"class_list":["post-55009","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-behavior","tag-charging","tag-close-up","tag-commincating","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-fulica-americana","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-portrait","tag-posture","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t