Anyone got any ideas about this one? It was at Caboolture, swimming around squawking shrilly and continuously. Obviously a juvelile, there were Coots, Swamphens, Moorhens and the Black-tailed hens around, but either its beak or legs seem to be the wrong colour for every one of them. Built more like a Coot I think.
Are Coots' feet that big?
I was thinking that perhaps it's more likely to be a Swamphen or Moorhen, especially because the purplish-blue front, and brown back, are evident.
I occasionally go birding in the Caboolture area. Where in Caboolture was this? Anything else interesting there?
Andy.
Hi Andy, this was at the big lake near the sports complex lots of water birds but mainly pacific black ducks, hardheads, coots, purple swamphens, bush-hens etc - lots of them, lots of people feeding them too. A few egrets and a really nice darter, and some pied cormorants - one black one.
Meave
yes, coots'feet are that big.
The juvenile Eurasian Coot in my photo has the same colour bill,juvenile Swamphens and Moorhens have brownish/black bills. But they all have feet like that.HaHa
M-L
M-L
O,O, after I had another look at more photos, the colour of the bill might change, when they get older?? Look at this one, we need an expert....
Whatever it is,(I still go for the Coot), it is a great photo, and I love the huge feet. M-L
M-L
Thanks Araminta, I couldn't get a shot of him with his Mum, but that one of yours does look like the same juvenile, same beak and all. Not like the juvenile pictures in the bird books I have, guess this one is just a bit older, and as you say the beak changes. The general build looked like a coot. Mine had obviously lost his family altogether, he spent ages just swimming around yelling for his mum. I agree that he is a coot. Hope mine found his mum at last.
Meave