Giant coot coot, the giant coot is monogamous and the pair builds a huge nest in a highland lake. However, unlike the horned coot, the nest of the giant coot is primarily made of aquatic vegetation and – as it is fiercely territorial – it never forms colonies. Giant coot The giant coot ("Fulica gigantea") is a species of coot from South America. It is found at lakes in the altiplano from central Peru, through western Bolivia, to north-eastern Chile and extreme north-western Argentina. With a total length of 48–64 cm (19–25 in), it is the second largest extant member of the
Mascarene coot saying they were "already rare". Apart from hunting, settlement activity leading to destruction of the marshland habitat seems to have played a major role in the species' extinction. Mascarene coot The Mascarene coot ("Fulica newtonii") is an extinct species of coot that inhabited the Mascarene islands of Mauritius and Réunion. Long known from subfossil bones found in the Mare aux Songes swamp on the former island, but only assumed from descriptions to also have been present on the latter, remains have more recently been found on Réunion also. Early travellers' reports from Mauritius were, in reverse, generally assumed to refer