American Coot in Mississippi

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Mississippi 10

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 10

SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier; Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Swamp Systems; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp; Mississippi River Bottomland DepressionJoseph Rusling Meeker, The Land of Evangeline (1874): moss-hung trees over a still bayou in Louisiana swamp forest. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Louisiana bayou country (Meeker, The Land of Evangeline, 1874), a neighboring state.The Land of Evangeline, Joseph Rusling Meeker, 1874. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

SummerWinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

Winter

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerWinterMississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest; East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest; Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh)

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

WinterMississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

WinterOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.

Other habitats in its models (37)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Mississippi. Those recorded in Mississippi first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (24)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer and winter, only within 250 m of water.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer and winter.
South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter.
South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter.
South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter.

Land cover and other classes (13)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer and winter.
Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Mississippi

Year-round: nests here, in 6 of 82 counties.
Winter: does not nest here, in all 82 counties.

Food plants

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.

Native plants in these genera 304

Common Duckweed
Lemna minor
Wildflower or fern. Native
Least Duckweed
Lemna minuta
Wildflower or fern. Native
Lesser Duckweed
Lemna aequinoctialis
Wildflower or fern. Native
Little Duckweed
Lemna obscura
Wildflower or fern. Native
Minute Duckweed
Lemna perpusilla
Wildflower or fern. Native
Valdivia Duckweed
Lemna valdiviana
Wildflower or fern. Native
Potamogeton pusillus subsp. pusillus
Potamogeton pusillus subsp. pusillus
Native
Small pondweed
Potamogeton pusillus subsp. tenuissimus
Wildflower or fern. Native
Largeleaf Pondweed
Potamogeton amplifolius
Wildflower or fern. Native
Leafy Pondweed
Potamogeton foliosus
Wildflower or fern. Native
Longleaf Pondweed
Potamogeton nodosus
Wildflower or fern. Native
Ribbonleaf Pondweed
Potamogeton epihydrus
Wildflower or fern. Native
Small Pondweed
Potamogeton pusillus
Wildflower or fern. Native
Spotted Pondweed
Potamogeton pulcher
Wildflower or fern. Native
Waterthread Pondweed
Potamogeton diversifolius
Wildflower or fern. Native
Cutleaf Water-milfoil
Myriophyllum pinnatum
Wildflower or fern. Native
Loose Water-milfoil
Myriophyllum laxum
Wildflower or fern. Native
Variable-leaf Water-milfoil
Myriophyllum heterophyllum
Wildflower or fern. Native
Dark-green Bulrush
Scirpus atrovirens
Grass or sedge. Native
Drooping Bulrush
Scirpus lineatus
Grass or sedge. Native
Leafy Bulrush
Scirpus polyphyllus
Grass or sedge. Native
Rufous Bulrush
Scirpus pendulus
Grass or sedge. Native
Spreading Bulrush
Scirpus divaricatus
Grass or sedge. Native
Woolgrass Bulrush
Scirpus cyperinus
Grass or sedge. Native

Plant genera in its diet records (30)

Lemna Seeds. 12 diet records. 6 native plants in Mississippi
Potamogeton Seeds. 10 diet records. 9 native plants in Mississippi
Myriophyllum Seeds. 9 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
Scirpus Seeds. 9 diet records. 6 native plants in Mississippi
Carex Seeds. 6 diet records. 131 native plants in Mississippi
Cladophora 6 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
Ruppia Leaves and seeds. 6 diet records. 1 native plant in Mississippi
Ceratophyllum Seeds and leaves. 5 diet records. 2 native plants in Mississippi
Chara Leaves. 5 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
Leptochloa Seeds and leaves. 4 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
Eleocharis Seeds. 3 diet records. 42 native plants in Mississippi
Acorus Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
Bidens Seeds. 2 diet records. 8 native plants in Mississippi
Bolboschoenus Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Mississippi
Cuscuta Seeds. 2 diet records. 9 native plants in Mississippi
Galium Seeds. 2 diet records. 11 native plants in Mississippi
Morella Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Mississippi
Nitella Other parts. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Mississippi
Persicaria Seeds. 2 diet records. 10 native plants in Mississippi
Salicornia Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Mississippi
Sesuvium Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Mississippi
Sparganium Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Mississippi
Typha 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Mississippi
Eichhornia 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Mississippi
Hydrilla 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Mississippi
Ludwigia 1 diet record. 16 native plants in Mississippi
Panicum 1 diet record. 14 native plants in Mississippi
Polygonum Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Mississippi
Ranunculus 1 diet record. 13 native plants in Mississippi
Sagittaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 11 native plants in Mississippi

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Mississippi, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.