Migrating Coots???

[AAADawg]

I have often thought about this but have never had the opportunity to pose this question to such an august body of duck hunting experts as one finds here.....has anyone ever caught a Coot actually in the process of migrating???? Surely there have been tagging studies done and certainly they must migrate...my question is do they walk or swim or actually fly...of maybe catch a ride on a south bound truck??? The best flying coots I have even seen could fly more than about 100 yards and then they wouldnt be 5 feet off the waters surface.....Im sure it would be possible to travel from Canada to Florida 100 yards at a time and only 5 feet off the ground but it would seem like it would be a whole lot less trouble just to starve or freeze to death...I mean the sheer number of people over 5 feet tall between here and Canada that would require you to swerve around is an astonishing number. I have been crossing Clark Hill every day at the little river bridge for the last month or so and only this past Wenesday did the Coots show back up...and I mean a lot of 'em!!!! Where did they come from? I think they may be like Cicadids....every year when the ground Temp gets just right and the sun is at a certain angle they start popping up out of the ground, ususally around lakes that have lots of Hydrilla in them. the only fault in this theory is that the earth isnt littered with their carcasses in the sprinng like Ciccadid bodies litter the ground after they hatch...of course this is a good thing because being larger and smellier in life than the average Ciccadid one can only imagin the horrific stench associetd with a massive die off of the species every year...this makes me think that they must migrate...but how??? Any light that ya'll can shinee on this subject would be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[Golden BB]

I've never seen it but i have a buddy that says he has seen a HUGE flock of coots fall into seminole, actually flying !!!

 

[jedisme]

i read somewhere they like to travel at night.

 

[ronnem]

Coots

If you give me a couple of days to dig up photos. I can show you some coots migrating. I am not sure but I really don't think the big rafts of coots make it this far south with our mild winters north as of late. In the north the arrival of coots marks the start of the duck migration. They are usually the first diver ducks to show and mergansers are the last to leave. I am talking about the big rafts and not the small flights, which over the past few years it would seem some of all species of ducks stay and winter in the great lakes region. Not uncommon to see 3 to 5 thousand coots in a raft. And yes they can fly very well. They just have to get a running start(on the water) to get going. And yes to the migrating at night, and not just coots, there are alot of migrating birds that like to travel at night.

 

[rip18]

Yep, coots fly high & well at night. Look at some of the radio tower kill records. We had a small bunch show up this past Saturday night. As part of the Colonial Coast Birding and Nature Festival, we did a 48-mile bird watching trip on Saturday from Jekyll Island to John Bailey Mill on the Satilla River. We saw 2 coots on Saturday. We did the reverse of the trip on Sunday and saw over 50 coots. Two weeks earlier we did an up and down practice run and saw ZERO coots.

We saw a few wood ducks and 1 blue-winged teal on Saturday. On Sunday we saw over 25 wood ducks, 11 wigeon and 8 ring-necked ducks. Two weeks earlier we had seen 3 wood ducks and a small flock of teal. Looks like a few birds may have come down with the small front last weekend?

 

[Sling]

Good question AAA. As a waterfowler I have often wondered the same thing myself. I never see them arrive nor leave.

 

[GADAWGS]

They do migrate at night. Ronnem, we get huge flocks of coots all the way down Seminole. Even see a few on Lanier. Would love to see more on Lanier, they generally have some welcome visitors.

 

[AAADawg]

i read somewhere they like to travel at night.

As low as they fly they probably have to fly at night otherwise they would have to spend all there energy dodging anything taller than 5 feet!!!

There used to be a Society De Pouelx that was a organization that laughingly was supposed to be made up of dedicated coot hunters....they had membersip cards and paid dues etc. and even recieved a News letter that was filled with all sorts of funny Duck hunting stories...I hevnet seen anything about them in years but at one time every hunting magazine around had an advertisement for them in it. Apparently coots and gallinules are considered a gourmet water fowl in parts of europe....I personally never wanted to eat anything that had green legs except a frog. The best flying coots Ive ever seen were at Rhetts with Lake Seminole coming in a close second....the ones on the Hill can fly pretty good but the hydrilla is so thick they just move from one patch to the next. I have also noticed that the Ringnecks (by far the most sporting duck in the world) and the Bluebills will raft up with the coots BUT they tend to stay away from them as likely as not.....someone told me that was because they needed less run way to get off the water than coots needed and wouldnt get in the way of the coots in case they were ran over by them when taking off...similar to puddle ducks not flying over rafted puddlers for fear of them jumping and colliding. I think the Ringers and the Blue Bills just segegrate themselves so no one will mistake them for a Coot...I know if I were a duck I wouldnt want to be mistaken for a coot!!!

 

[LOVEMYLABXS]

Some call me an "OLE COOT" I think the reason most ducks stay away from them is I believe they are like gadwalls and let other ducks pull up grasses and stuff then steal it from them.