White-winged Coot

About the White-winged Coot

The white-winged coot (Fulica leucoptera) is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the family Rallidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Falkland Islands. The white-winged coot is monotypic.

The white-winged coot is 35 to 43 cm (14 to 17 in) long and weighs about 400 to 600 g (14 to 21 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults have a yellow to greenish yellow bill and a small yellow to orange-yellow frontal shield, though these colors may further vary. Their legs and feet are pale sea green to yellow-green and have blackish toes and joints. Their plumage is slaty gray that is blacker on the head and neck. They have white undertail coverts, and wide white tips on the secondaries provide the English name. Immature birds have a dusky olive bill, greenish gray legs and feet, gray-brown upperparts, and paler underparts than adults. Juveniles are dark drab gray with dusky mottling on a white head and neck.

The white-winged coot is found in most of southern South America, in northern to central Chile and separately from eastern and southern Bolivia, Paraguay, and far... Wikipedia →