Image:Gathering of Coots KSC00pp0238.jpg

en:American Coot - Fulica americana

Source: http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=6027

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Coots draw together (foreground) in the waters of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which shares a boundary with Kennedy Space Center. They are often seen in the Indian River and Banana Creek swimming together in large groups such as these. Other birds, mainly ducks, swim nearby. Coots are readily identified by their slate-gray bodies and conspicuous white bill. They inhabit open ponds and marshes from southern Canada to northern South America. Excellent swimmers and divers, they eat various aquatic plants, but also feed on seeds grass and waste grain on land.