The Coot is a water bird of black color: it is distinguished by a typical white spot on the forehead shield which takes up the light color of the beak. The eyes are red and the gray-green legs end with long lobed fingers, the result of the process of adaptation to the aquatic environments. It reaches a length of about 38 cm. Male and female are quite similar: while the males are recognizable by the slightly larger spot and reach up to 600 grams in weight, the females weigh up to 800 grams.
The coots are excellent swimmers and the species, on a global level, is very widespread. In fact, it lives in central and eastern Europe, but also from northern Africa to Siberia and Australia. They are above all permanent; only those in the coldest regions migrate southward in winter. In Italy, the species is very numerous in the periods of `double passage` of the individuals in migration.
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