Crazy as a Coot? Really?

You have heard the expression, “Crazy as a Coot.” This phrase is attributed to John Skelton, poet and tutor for King Henry VIII. In 1529 Skelton began a poem with the words, “The mad Coot.” While American Coot behavior has often been viewed by humans as crazy, it is not. “Crazy as a coot” is a human bound means of explaining bird behavior. When humans act like an American Coot…it’s for real crazy. Yet, American Coot behavior is far from crazy.

“They are complicated birds…” writes a biologist who studies coots.  Uh-huh…complicated. After a bit of study to write this article, my view matches the biologist’s. The American Coot is a water bird. It is not a duck. It is more closely related to the Sand Hill Crane and birds in the rail family such as the Virginia Rail than ducks. Coots do not have webbed feet. They must run on the water to take off, and we describe them as awkward, clumsy fliers. But wait! They can fly! Humans need a machine to fly. Coots migrate to the Gulf States and into Mexico as cold weather freezes the water of their northern habitat. They fly there, on their own power, when they decide.

Pairs mate for life…both incubate the eggs and both feed the young. We humans could better follow this particular coot behavior. There is nothing crazy about the ability of American Coots when it comes to nest building either. Nests are floating platforms. A human would have significant difficulty to build a floating platform from plants found in a wetland. To compound the level of difficulty, the human nest must support the weight of the human. The American Coot can and does-every nesting season. And the coot builds the nest with an entrance ramp from the water into the nest to prevent damage to the nest caused by climbing into it. Coot chicks find the nest ramp very helpful for nest reentry from the water. Nothing crazy about that either.

This immature ring-blled gull hung around the raft of coots on the lake.

 If a “clutch”, that is the nest of eggs, is lost to predators or weather, coots will re-nest 70% of the time. Coots do not easily give up on life. But this next fact is seems a bit foolish to this human. Coot hens will often lay their eggs in the nest of another coot. OK, perhaps this is not the best idea. Biologists have discovered that the coot is one of only 3 species of birds which can recognize their own young. And we say birds have, “bird brains.” Before this, we likely thought all birds could recognize their own young! Coots are definitely not crazy.

The primary habitat for any American Coot is a wetland. And wetlands have a significant number of plant species growing around and in the water. It is highly logical that coots are mainly vegetarians. They feed on aquatic plants from the wetlands where they live. If it is plant matter- they will feed on it; duck weed, cattail, sedge, any aquatic plant which is found in a freshwater wetland. And, they will feast on tree leaves, and sometimes grain.  There is protein in aquatic invertebrates. Coots feed on them more in the spring during nesting time. Protein aids in egg development.

There are a lot of coots in North America. An estimated 6,000,000 coots live in North America…in comparison with human cities, the population of Los Angeles is 4 million and New York is 8 million. Unintelligent birds would not be so abundant would they?

How long could a human live totally outside the same as an American Coot? The life span of a Coot is up to 10 years in the wild. That’s 24/7 outside. In sunshine, rain and storm…and eating what is found in the habitat? You can have one concession-you do not need to live in a wetland. The human life span would likely plummet if all humans were required to live outside 24/7. Not so crazy, more like amazing coots.

Perhaps it’s the way they swim which causes us to judge the coot as crazy. As they swim, they bob their head up and down. Yes, it looks crazy. If humans walked and bobbed their heads, well crazy would perhaps fit. There is a reason the coot swims and bobs. The head bob is believed to give them better 3D vision. Better vision has a direct correlation to survival.

Except during mating season coots are highly social. Flocks of fall migrating birds can easily number in the thousands. Coots feed and rest during the day and fly at night. Gathering in large groups called rafts, they find safety in numbers. Some rafts of coots have been numbered in the tens of thousands. Birds of prey, like the bald eagle find it difficult to single out a single bird. It does happen, but never easily for the eagle. It takes many scouting flights over a raft to find the lone weak bird. Sometimes there is none. In the human world anti-social behavior often has negative effects too. For the coot, there is safety in numbers.

Crazy as a coot? I don’t think so.

A Coot chick is born with an outlandish set of chick feathers. While the parents are a subdued blue/gray, Coot chicks are shocking. Click on the button…

Biologists believe the most brightly colored chicks are those hatched later. Later hatched coot chicks tend to be weaker and smaller. It is believed that the brighter colored chicks get fed more often by the parents insuring their survival. This is because the older, stronger chicks are better able to fend for themselves. While biologists believe this is the reason for younger hatched chicks to be so brilliantly colored. They are not sure. A biologist who participated in the study testified, “But that still doesn’t really answer for me why they’re so bright.” Bright colored chicks…is this an accident? Is it a crazy freak of nature? No, it is a regular event in coot life…bright colored chicks get attention.

Crazy as a coot? Perhaps we know too little about the American Coot. In our defense, we would not normally know about these amazing facets of coot life. We do not live daily with the American Coot.

There is one more thing we can learn from the Coot.

It’s not about the coot. It’s because of the coot. It’s about us. As we have falsely judged the coot, we make judgements about others without all the facts. While misconceptions about the American Coot do not greatly impact us or the coot, developing conclusions about another person based only on first glance observation does. So does failure to know the person’s background. We decide what we think another person is like often on very scant evidence. Many times, no, most times, we are completely wrong. Just like we are with the coot. Really, we can learn from this experience with the “lowly” Coot. What we know about another is often based on second hand information.

What do you know about Jesus? Is what you know based on what you have read in books or heard from others? Jesus is the Creator of the American Coot. The life facts about this bird come from the infinite mind of Jesus. Did the facts about the coot surprise you?

Knowing the facts about Jesus will surprise you too. Wish there was more love in the world? Go to Jesus-He is love. Wish you could wipe away those awful things you’ve done or others have done to you-go to Jesus. He can clean away the stains of sin…perfectly. Wish there was someone who understood you? Go to Jesus, He made you, and me. He knows us completely-even in our mother’s womb.

Perhaps you’ve heard others speak about Jesus. They say He was just a man. Or He was a wonderful invention of human imagination. Perhaps you have even heard Jesus was delusional. After all no human can be God. That would make Jesus crazy, right?

What if Jesus WAS the Son of God? He could walk on water. He could feed 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish, and bring the dead to life. Jesus could cast out demons and Jesus alone could forgive our sins. One more, Jesus could make the coot.

He was not crazy. Is not crazy…Jesus is the Son of the Living God. It is wise to know Him.

Want to read more about Jesus? Start in the Bible in the book of John.