Description:

Medium sized water bird, mostly black in color, with white bill and shield. Shows paler trailing edge to secondaries in flight. Immature duller than adult with whitish throat. Juvenile grey-brown, with whitish throat and breast. Sexes alike, female averages smaller.

Distribution:

Common passage migrant and summer visitor all across Gilgit-Baltistan, rare in north-east. Usually prefers lakes, marshes and irrigation tanks; standing freshwater with fringing emergent vegetation. From lowlands up to 3000m.

Behavior:

Feeds in flocks in water, on land, grazing near water, especially when wind causes high waves. Kleptoparasitizes conspecifics as well as swans and ducks. Mainly diurnal. Omnivorous, but primarily vegetarian. Eats mainly vegetative parts and seeds of aquatic and sometimes terrestrial plants. Animal food eaten includes invertebrates, adult and larval insects, vertebrates and their eggs.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Eurasian Coot in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Eurasian Coot

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.