Coot on the River Nau, Langenau, Germany

From Wikipedia

The Eurasian coot (Fulica atra), also known as the common coot or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-black body, a glossy black head and a white bill with a white frontal shield. The sexes are similar in appearance.

The Eurasian coot is 36–38 cm (14–15 in) in length with a wing-span of 70–80 cm (28–31 in); males weigh around 890 g (31 oz) and females 750 g (26 oz). It is largely black except for the white bill and frontal shield (which gives rise to the phrase “as bald as a coot”, in use as early as 1430). As a swimming species, the coot has partial webbing on its long strong toes. The sexes are similar in appearance.

The juvenile is paler than the adult, has a whitish breast, and lacks the facial shield; the adult black plumage develops when about 3–4 months old, but the white shield is only fully developed at about one year old.

The Eurasian coot is a noisy bird with a wide repertoire of crackling, explosive, or trumpeting calls, often given at night.

Image details
Date: 27 June 2023
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Tamron 70.0-300.0 mm f/4.0-5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/125s
ISO: 400
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International