2021 "Chicken" flying over the water in Qieding Wetland【Fulica Atra】(Eurasian Coot)
The Rallidae birds are the most diverse and widespread family of wading birds, with about 140 species distributed throughout the world, including some remote islands.
Fulica atra is one of 140 species and travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
In Taiwan, Eurasian Coot is a migratory bird in winter, and almost all of its body is black.
Also, its most distinctive feature is that the beak and the forehead plate between the eyes are white, just like its name.
Because it is so obvious, Eurasian Coot has a peculiar nickname: "White Bone Top", with a white beak and forehead and dark red eyes.
Fulica atra is a master diver!
They can chase shrimps and worms in the water, and also dive to the bottom to eat snails and shells, but the most common food is algae.
The "flippers" on the toes of rice pheasants are not like the flippers connected between the toes of geese and ducks, but are like separate petals, which can be folded up to walk on land without hindrance, and opened up to swim in the water.
Eurasian Coot has long legs, long toes, and claws, which are specially used to fight for territory, as well as against external enemies such as eagles (or ornithologists), and the claws are not "soft".
The only notable features are its short, shrill call and its white bulbous forehead, which, as the English proverb says, is "bald as a coot.
The function of the forehead plate is still a mystery.
Both male and female birds have forehead plates that bulge and swell at the beginning of the breeding season and then fade at the end of the breeding season.
But whether the size and shape of this ornament can reflect the health of the owner is not yet determined by the scientific community.
Why do they call them the flying chickens on water?
Another odd feature of Eurasian Coot is the disconnected webbing structure on the toes.
The flippers are somewhere between webbed and non-webbed, and they need to run before flying, and they also have dense aquatic plants that they can step on to fly close to the water.
Eurasian Coot is usually monogamous.
Spring is the season when Eurasian Coot set up their breeding territories.
For Eurasian Coot, the territory is so important that competition for breeding space can be fierce and both males and females must work hard to defend their territory.
Defending their territory, Eurasian Coot darts towards the intruders on the water, their legs stirring up water and sound at the same time, and get into a fierce battle for the breeding territory.
After a party is pressed into the water and defeated, they can swim away under the cover of the water splash.
This way of declaring war is called water war by ornithologists and is full of ornamental fun!
