Baby Coot

A photo from 7 July 2015, taken at a wetland area in SW Calgary, when I called in for just an hour after a doctor's appointment. Not the greatest shot, but I don't usually see Coots this close, and it gives a reasonable view of a young one's head. Baby Coots are such ugly little things that they are cute, ha.

"The waterborne American Coot is one good reminder that not everything that floats is a duck. A close look at a coot—that small head, those scrawny legs—reveals a different kind of bird entirely. Their dark bodies and white faces are common sights in nearly any open water across the continent, and they often mix with ducks. But they’re closer relatives of the gangly Sandhill Crane and the nearly invisible rails than of Mallards or teal." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Coot/id