As told by Savannah Brown, certified wildlife rehabilitator and animal care specialist at the WNC Nature Center
The distinctive features of Fulica americana
This time of year, our small lakes and ponds will be dotted with black, chicken-like birds. These odd little birds that mingle with resident ducks and geese can be distinguished by their sharp, pale, pointed bills with a red or brown band around the end and their red eyes. What is this peculiar little creature that looks like a cross between a chicken and a duck?
It is an American Coot! These funny little birds are only found in the mountains during the winter and reside throughout most of North America the rest of the year.
Coots are so common during the winter that we see several of them come through rehabilitation each year with a number of different injuries. Some are hit by cars, some are attacked by dogs or cats, other have boat injuries – but the most common injury, as with most water birds, is entanglement in fishing line and lures.
The coot in his cast
This week we had an American Coot come to the Nature Center that had both legs and feet tangled in fishing line. The line had been on his legs long enough and tightly enough that he had lost blood supply to his extremities. When he arrived, he had already lost one toe on his right foot. After assessing him, we removed the other 2 toes that were just barely hanging on and dead and wrapped his little nub.
I wasn’t sure that he had a good prognosis because he seemed to have no sensation in his other foot where the fishing line had cut deep into the leg and parts of those toes. We filled him up with mealworms and left him plants to eat through the night with hopes that he would be standing and walking the next morning. When I came in on Wednesday morning, the little guy was not only standing in his enclosure, but running around and trying to bite me! In the rehab world, this is a VERY good sign! I fed him some fish, which he gobbled down, and got on the hunt for a rehabber that had space for him while he healed.
Specialized lobes on the toes allow the coot to walk easily on marshy shorelines
American Coots have very specialized toes and feet for wading through shore lines in search of food. Without both feet, he will not have a strong survival rate in the wild. I worked to send the little guy to the Blue Ridge Wildlife Institute in Banner Elk, NC where he will stay until he can get a ride to Charlotte, NC to the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue. While there, he will be assessed and treated by top notch waterfowl experts who will decide where he’ll go from there. More than likely, the little cutie will end up in an education facility where he will become an ambassador for his species and teach the public all about these little shore birds – and why it is so important not to leave fishing line in the water!
For this one little bird, it’s a happy ending!
What if you find injured or orphaned animals?
Savannah Brown caring for the coot
The Nature Center is not a rehabilitation facility and we are not set up to take in the numbers of wild animals that need help. We work with a large network of local rehabilitators, and those across the state, to help the animals that we get phone calls for and the ones that do show up here. When animals come here, we triage, stabilize and treat them until we can transport them to other rehabilitators.
If you find an injured or orphaned wild animal, the best thing for them is to get it to a rehabilitator as fast as possible and to try and cut out the ‘middle man’. You can find a list of rehabilitators at www.ncwildlife.org where you can choose the county you are in and find someone close to you!
How You Can Help
An American Coot previously rehabilitated and released
If you have an interest in becoming a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for the state of North Carolina, please consider taking our Wildlife Rehabilitation Workshop, held here at the center February 18th & 19th and the 25th & 26th. After the 4 days, you will have everything you need to apply for your state permit which will allow you to work with small mammals and reptiles, as well as connecting you with a large network of great rehabilitators here in WNC. Please contact the Friend’s office to register for the class. Space is limited to 30 people, first come first serve, and fills up quickly. For questions about the class contact me at strantham@ashevillenc.gov.
