You may have heard someone characterize another person as “crazy as a coot.” What you may not realize is that a coot is a bird with some really unique attributes.
John Skelton, poet and tutor for Henry VIII in the 1500s, is credited with characterizing this water bird often mistaken for a duck as crazy, but the word “coot” has been around at least since the 15th century, according to Merriam-Webster.
It’s an odd bird, with distinctive yellow-green toes that have lobes on them, giving them webbed toes rather than webbed feet. The National Audubon Society describes the coot, which is a member of the rail family, as having “a duck-ish head, a body shaped like a chicken and a pointy beak to match.”
And we have them in Maine. Nature photographer and BDN Contributor David Small captured some in pictures.
“I think many of you have heard the expression, crazy as a coot. My wilderness experiences photographing them have never proved them to be crazy. They did prove to be a wonderful target for my Canon (camera),” said Small.
There are a few reasons they are dubbed crazy. They swim erratically using their webbed toes. They are territorial. Their vocalizations are odd and loud. And they often display a cranky or grumpy behavior, including using a tough love parenting technique, according to the National Audubon Society.
Coots live in fresh water marshes, lakes, ponds and edges of rivers and streams of south central Maine, among other places. They eat vegetation, but also fish, tadpoles, insects, crustaceans and worms.
Coots are considered migratory game birds by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and may be hunted during duck seasons. Five birds may be taken in addition to the duck daily bag limit.
The next time someone calls you a crazy old coot, you will know the saying’s origin.
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