American Coots

These chicken-like birds (also known as "Mud Hens") possess lobed toes to aid them
in swimming and walking on mudflats found around marshy lakes and sloughs.
American Coots appear comical when they swim: their heads bob in time with their
paddling feet. Autumn migrants begin arriving in late September, and numbers
increase throughout October and into November, especially at Burnaby Lake and the
George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. A few can also be seen on Lost Lagoon in
Stanley Park where they breed and are found year-round.
American Coots feed by diving and dabbling for waterweeds, small snails, aquatic
insects and crustaceans in wetland areas. They build floating nests made of cattails
and bulrushes among the vegetation near the edge of the water.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Red-necked Grebes

Image
Red-necked Grebes spend each autumn and winter foraging in the salty marine waters off Vancouver. In the spring, they move inland to breed in freshwater lakes as far away as Alaska or Saskatchewan. Good places to observe these birds are from the Iona Island South Jetty and from the Stanley Park seawall, especially in September and April. Here, you can observe them diving below the surface of the water for sculpins, Pacific herring, minnows, shrimp and other aquatic animals.
Read more

Black Swift

The Black Swift is the largest North American swift, and it also outsizes all swallows in the Vancouver area. One of the positive aspects of approaching summer storms in Vancouver is that the low pressure systems force this bird low over the city where it catches flying insects. During warm, clear days, it is a challenging bird to locate because it forages at such a height that it appears as a mere speck against the blue sky. This bird breeds in B.C. but because it nests on remote, moist, rocky crevices only a few nesting sites have been confirmed. Black Swifts appear to time nesting so that their young can take advantage of the abundance of flying ants available in August and early September.
Read more

Black-bellied Plover

You will have to travel south of the city to the mudflats and fields of the Fraser River delta to see a Black-bellied Plover. Plan your visit at high tide when the plovers are pushed closer to shore. You may hear the plaintive pee-u-wee calls that help to keep flocks loosely together. Black-bellied Plovers are most common during migratory periods from late April through early May and from early August through September. Up to 1000 birds may remain over winter, but they are generally difficult to find. Like many other shorebirds, the Black-bellied Plover feeds in a typical stop-run-pick manner. On its arctic breeding ground it feeds mainly on insects, but its diet expands to include worms, small clams and crustaceans during migration.
Read more