Coot Fight Club

[MJB]

Two male Coot trying to drown each other.

coot fight1 by Martin Bone, on Flickr

coot fight2 by Martin Bone, on Flickr

coot fight3 by Martin Bone, on Flickr

coot fight4 by Martin Bone, on Flickr

coot fight5 by Martin Bone, on Flickr

coot fight6 by Martin Bone, on Flickr

coot fight7 by Martin Bone, on Flickr

[peterob]

They are very aggressive at this time of year.  Where I used to walk in the park in Brussels there was a high density of coots in quite a small space of open (no real cover) water.  The "run up" to the fight is spectacular,  especially when it isn't quite clear which coot will be the victim! 

[MJB]

Apr 29, 2023 7:14:27 GMT peterob said:

The "run up" to the fight is spectacular,  especially when it isn't quite clear which coot will be the victim! 

It's like watching two lads in a pub on a Friday night. Chests puffed out and holding their arms like they're carrying invisible rolls of carpet under them. I'd never seen coot fighting before and was amazed how violent it was. Most birds when they fight it involves a lot of posturing and noise, but not much physical contact. These two were determined to drown each other.

[peterob]

Apr 29, 2023 7:41:41 GMT MJB said:

Apr 29, 2023 7:14:27 GMT peterob said:

The "run up" to the fight is spectacular,  especially when it isn't quite clear which coot will be the victim! 

It's like watching two lads in a pub on a Friday night. Chests puffed out and holding their arms like they're carrying invisible rolls of carpet under them. I'd never seen coot fighting before and was amazed how violent it was. Most birds when they fight it involves a lot of posturing and noise, but not much physical contact. These two were determined to drown each other.

The females (I read somewhere) will drown the weakest chicks if there is a food shortage so that the strongest will survive. Apparently begging for food is a trigger.  I saw this at Ellesmere once. I wasn't sure at the time if it was a "lost chick" begging off a stranger and being attacked because it was not the mother bird's chick.  They definitely have a violent streak.  I saw one coot attack another at Conwy RSPB the other day. It came from a long ways off. They weren't squaring up for a battle or anything, it just decided that it wasn't having a competitor within 50 yds (or more).  The 'victim' saw the attacker just in time and dived.  It was deep water and that was the end of it.