American coot old. The American coot is a migratory bird that occupies most of North America. It lives in the Pacific and southwestern United States and Mexico year-round and occupies more northeastern regions during the summer breeding season. In the winter they can be found as far south as Panama. Coots generally build floating nests and lay 8–12 eggs per clutch. Females and males have similar appearances, but they can be distinguished during aggressive displays by the larger ruff (head plumage) on the male. American coots eat primarily algae and other aquatic plants but also animals (both vertebrates and invertebrates) when available.
Chatham coot two species. They have variously been considered full species, subspecies or lacking in taxonomic distinction. At one point a new genus, "Nesophalaris", was proposed for them. A review by Trevor Worthy and Richard Holdaway in 2002 recommended that the two coots be treated as separate species. Remains of the coot were first found by Forbes in dune deposits on Chatham Island in 1892, since when much further material has been recovered from dunes and from Moriori middens on the island. It was a large coot, slightly larger than the New Zealand coot, some 40 cm in length and 1.9 kg