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Bird

American Coot

Fulica americana

A winter visitor to West Virginia, found in all 55 counties and 5 habitats.

Here
Winter and on migration
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
5

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
Winter and on migration
Nesting
Not known to nest here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
5
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in West Virginia 5

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

1 of 5

Swamps

The Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405
SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Swamp SystemsWilliam McIlvaine, The Chickahominy Swamp (1862): wind-tossed swamp trees standing in dark water under a storm. Shown: Chickahominy Swamp, Virginia, a neighboring state.The Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405, William McIlvaine (1813-1867), 1862. Public domain. Source record.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

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

SummerWinterCentral Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Ponds, lakes and their shores

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

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh)

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.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian
Other habitats in its models (48)

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

Elsewhere in the South (33)
  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland Summer and winter.
  • 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.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp 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.
  • Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • 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.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
Land cover and other classes (15)
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Swamp Systems Winter.
  • Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Tidal Marsh Systems Winter.
  • Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • Open Water (Brackish/Salt) Winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • 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 (Beach/Dune) Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.

All habitats

Seasons in West Virginia

  • Migratory: does not nest here, in 52 of 55 counties.
  • Winter: does not nest here, in 18 of 55 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 310

Plant genera in its diet records (30)
  • Lemna Seeds. 12 diet records. 5 native plants in West Virginia
  • Potamogeton Seeds. 10 diet records. 18 native plants in West Virginia
  • Myriophyllum Seeds. 9 diet records. 3 native plants in West Virginia
  • Scirpus Seeds. 9 diet records. 11 native plants in West Virginia
  • Carex Seeds. 6 diet records. 161 native plants in West Virginia
  • Cladophora 6 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Ruppia Leaves and seeds. 6 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Ceratophyllum Seeds and leaves. 5 diet records. 2 native plants in West Virginia
  • Chara Leaves. 5 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Leptochloa Seeds and leaves. 4 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Eleocharis Seeds. 3 diet records. 15 native plants in West Virginia
  • Acorus Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Bidens Seeds. 2 diet records. 10 native plants in West Virginia
  • Bolboschoenus Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in West Virginia
  • Cuscuta Seeds. 2 diet records. 9 native plants in West Virginia
  • Galium Seeds. 2 diet records. 17 native plants in West Virginia
  • Morella Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Nitella Other parts. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Persicaria Seeds. 2 diet records. 10 native plants in West Virginia
  • Salicornia Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Sesuvium Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Sparganium Seeds. 2 diet records. 4 native plants in West Virginia
  • Typha 2 diet records. 1 native plant in West Virginia
  • Eichhornia 1 diet record. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Hydrilla 1 diet record. 0 native plants in West Virginia
  • Ludwigia 1 diet record. 5 native plants in West Virginia
  • Panicum 1 diet record. 11 native plants in West Virginia
  • Polygonum Seeds. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in West Virginia
  • Ranunculus 1 diet record. 17 native plants in West Virginia
  • Sagittaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 6 native plants in West Virginia

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in West Virginia, 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.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Birds 58

Plants 109

All of ponds, lakes and their shores in West Virginia

Swamps

Birds 53

Plants 185

All of swamps in West Virginia

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 103

Plants 303

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in West Virginia

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources