 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
Click for a larger version or to add map overlays |
||
Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
|
Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
|
|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Atlas Results
Atlas results coming soon
Note: During all years of the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas drought conditions persisted and the Atlas range maps for all waterfowl, waterbirds, and wetland-associated species should be viewed as characteristic of distribution and abundance during dry conditions. Read the full drought statement here.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
The American Coot, also known as "Mudhen,? is the most abundant and widely distributed species of the family Rallidae in North America. An accomplished swimmer and diver, it manoeuvres underwater with the aid of long, padded, and webbed toes. Coots are pugnacious and quarrelsome, their presence often announced by various loud cackling, grunting, and croaking calls from deep within tall stands of emergent aquatic vegetation. The species has a wide breeding range from southern Canada through the US, Central America, and the Caribbean to northern South America; it winters from southern British Columbia and Maryland southward.
Coots occupy permanent sloughs, deepwater marshes, and quiet bays of large lakes, especially if they contain emergent vegetation as an anchor for floating nests (Smith 1996). Except under drought conditions Coots seem able to select permanent or semi-permanent wetlands for nesting; Sugden (1979b) found that only 2 of 1991 Coot nests in his Meacham study area (1973-1975) were located on ponds that dried up before the young could have fledged.
The American Coot is a common summer resident across Saskatchewan, from the grasslands to Lake Athabasca and Reindeer Lake. Coots can be very abundant in suitable habitat.
Original text by Guy Wapple. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the American Coot in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. American Coot in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=AMCO&lang=en [09 Nov 2025]
| Previous species: Sora | Table of Contents | Next species: Yellow Rail |