Fulica atra -- Linnaeus, 1758ANIMALIA -- CHORDATA -- AVES -- GRUIFORMES -- RALLIDAECommon names: Common Coot; Coot; Eurasian Coot; European Coot; Foulque macroule

European Red List AssessmentEuropean Red List Status

NT -- Near Threatened, (IUCN version 3.1)

Assessment InformationYear published: 2015Date assessed: 2015-03-31Assessor(s): BirdLife InternationalReviewer(s): Symes, A.Compiler(s): Ashpole, J., Burfield, I., Ieronymidou, C., Pople, R., Wheatley, H. & Wright, L.Assessment RationaleEuropean regional assessment: Near Threatened (NT)EU27 regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)

In Europe this species is undergoing a moderately rapid population decline and it is therefore listed as Near Threatened.

Within the EU27 this species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern within the EU27.

OccurrenceCountries/Territories of OccurrenceNative:Albania; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Faroe Islands (to DK); Estonia; Finland; France; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland, Rep. of; Italy; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Malta; Moldova; Montenegro; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; Ukraine; United KingdomVagrant:Greenland (to DK); Svalbard and Jan Mayen (to NO); Gibraltar (to UK)

PopulationThe European population is estimated at 945,000-1,550,000 pairs, which equates to 1,890,000-3,090,000 mature individuals. The population in the EU27 is estimated at 549,000-870,000 pairs, which equates to 1,100,000-1,740,000 mature individuals. For details of national estimates, see Supplementary PDF.

TrendIn Europe the population size is estimated to be decreasing and, although there is high uncertainty in the reported trends, the rate of decline is likely to approach 30% in 21 years (three generations). The population size in the EU27 is estimated to be decreasing, but there is high uncertainty in the reported trends and it is unlikely that the rate of decline over three generations approaches 30%. For details of national estimates, see Supplementary PDF.

Habitats and Ecology

The species inhabits large, still or slow-flowing waters (Snow and Perrins 1998) and shows a preference for shallow water with adjacent deeper water for diving, and muddy substrates, marginal, emergent, floating or submergent vegetation. Habitats include eutrophic and mesotrophic (Taylor and van Perlo 1998) lakes, pools, ponds, reservoirs, barrages, gravel-pits, canals, drainage ditches, dykes, oxbow lakes (Taylor 1996), fish ponds (Musil 2006), creeks, rivers (Taylor 1996) and river deltas (Taylor and van Perlo 1998), as well as open marshes, freshwater meadows (Taylor and van Perlo 1998), flood-lands, salt-pans, clay-pans (Taylor 1996) and sewage ponds (Taylor and van Perlo 1998). It breeds from February to September.

The nest is a platform of vegetation that may be resting on the bottom of shallow water, floating or on a foundation of trampled plant matter in emergent vegetation. The species may also nest on artificial platforms, islands, rafts, tree stumps, tree forks (Taylor 1996) or in bushes up to 3 m above the water (Taylor and van Perlo 1998). This species is omnivorous, although its diet consists primarily of vegetable matter such as algae, the vegetative parts of aquatic and terrestrial plants, the seeds of waterweeds, sedges, water-lilies, grasses and cereal crops (Taylor 1996), clubmoss and aquatic fungi (Taylor and van Perlo 1998). Animal matter in its diet includes molluscs, adult and larval insects, worms, leeches, shrimps, spiders, small fish, fish eggs, frogs, birds and bird eggs, and small mammals (Taylor 1996). The species is mostly sedentary or a partial migrant, however in Fennoscandia and east of the Czech Republic it is mostly migratory (Hagemeijer and Blair 1997)Habitats & Altitude

Habitat (level 1 - level 2) Importance OccurrenceArtificial/Aquatic - Aquaculture Ponds suitable breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Aquaculture Ponds suitable non-breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Canals and Drainage Channels, Ditches suitable breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Canals and Drainage Channels, Ditches suitable non-breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Excavations (open) suitable breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Excavations (open) suitable non-breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Ponds (below ha) suitable breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Ponds (below ha) suitable non-breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Salt Exploitation Sites suitable breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Salt Exploitation Sites suitable non-breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Seasonally Flooded Agricultural Land suitable breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Seasonally Flooded Agricultural Land suitable non-breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Wastewater Treatment Areas suitable breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Wastewater Treatment Areas suitable non-breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Water Storage Areas (over ha) suitable breedingArtificial/Aquatic - Water Storage Areas (over ha) suitable non-breedingMarine Coastal/Supratidal - Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes suitable breedingMarine Coastal/Supratidal - Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes suitable non-breedingMarine Coastal/Supratidal - Coastal Freshwater Lakes suitable breedingMarine Coastal/Supratidal - Coastal Freshwater Lakes suitable non-breedingMarine Neritic - Estuaries marginal non-breedingMarine Neritic - Macroalgal/Kelp marginal non-breedingMarine Neritic - Seagrass (Submerged) marginal non-breedingMarine Neritic - Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel marginal non-breedingMarine Neritic - Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs marginal non-breedingMarine Neritic - Subtidal Sandy marginal non-breedingMarine Neritic - Subtidal Sandy-Mud marginal non-breedingWetlands (inland) - Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands suitable breedingWetlands (inland) - Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands suitable non-breedingWetlands (inland) - Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over ha) suitable breedingWetlands (inland) - Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over ha) suitable non-breedingWetlands (inland) - Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under ha) suitable breedingWetlands (inland) - Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under ha) suitable non-breedingWetlands (inland) - Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls) suitable breedingWetlands (inland) - Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls) suitable non-breedingWetlands (inland) - Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over ha) suitable breedingWetlands (inland) - Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over ha) suitable non-breeding

Habitats & AltitudeHabitat (level 1 - level 2) Importance Occurrence

Wetlands (inland) - Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under ha) suitable breedingWetlands (inland) - Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under ha) suitable non-breedingAltitude max. 1800 m Occasional altitudinal limits

ThreatsThis species suffers disturbance (Evans and Day 2002) and mortality (Azerbaijan) from hunting (Taylor 1996), and is poisoned by ingesting lead shot (France) (Mondain-Monval et al. 2002). It is also threatened by oil and petroleum pollution (Azerbaijan (Taylor 1996) and in the Kaliningrad region, Russia (Grishanov 2006)), wetland drainage, peat-extraction, changing wetland management practices (decreased grazing and mowing in meadows leading to scrub over-growth) and the burning and mowing of reeds (Grishanov 2006). The species suffers predation from American Mink (Neovison vison) (Slonsk Reserve, Poland (Bartoszewicz and Zalewski 2003) and UK (Ferreras and MacDonald 1999)). It is also susceptible to avian influenza, so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the virus (Melville and Shortridge 2006). The species is hunted for sport in the Mediterranean (Taylor and van Perlo 1998), Denmark (Bregnballe 2006), Northern Ireland (Evans and Day 2002) and Iran (Balmaki and Barati 2006), and for food in the Mediterranean (Taylor and van Perlo 1998).Threats & Impacts

Threat (level 1) Threat (level 2) Impact and StressesBiological resource use

Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals (intentional use - species is the target)

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant

DeclinesLow Impact

StressesSpecies mortality; Species disturbance

Biological resource use

Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals (unintentional effects - species is not the target)

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant

DeclinesLow Impact

StressesSpecies mortality

Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases

American Mink (Neovison vison)

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant

DeclinesLow Impact

StressesSpecies mortality

Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases

Avian Influenza Virus (H subtype)

Timing Scope Severity ImpactPast, Likely to Return

Majority (50-90%) Rapid Declines Past Impact

StressesSpecies mortality

Natural system modifications

Abstraction of surface water (agricultural use)

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant

DeclinesLow Impact

StressesEcosystem degradation

Natural system modifications

Increase in fire frequency/intensity

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant

DeclinesLow Impact

StressesEcosystem conversion; Ecosystem degradation

Natural system modifications

Other ecosystem modifications

Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant

DeclinesLow Impact

StressesEcosystem degradation

Threats & ImpactsThreat (level 1) Threat (level 2) Impact and Stresses

Pollution Oil spills Timing Scope Severity ImpactOngoing Minority (<50%) Rapid Declines Medium Impact

StressesEcosystem degradation; Species mortality

ConservationConservation Actions UnderwayEU Birds Directive Annex II and III. The Mediterranean and Black Sea populations are on CMS Appendix II. The species is legally protected in Britain .

Conservation Actions ProposedNo conservation measures are currently needed for this species, although monitoring and research on the impacts of hunting, pollution and habitat alteration would help inform any future conservation measures.

BibliographyBartoszewicz, M.; Zalewski, A. 2003. American mink, Mustela vison diet and predation on waterfowl in the Slonsk Reserve, western Poland. Folia Zoologica 52(3): 225-238.Bregnballe, T.; Noer, H.; Christensen, T. K.; Clausen, P.; Asferg, T.; Fox, A. D.; Delany, S. 2006. Sustainable hunting of migratory waterbirds: the Danish approach. In: Boere, G.; Galbraith, C., Stroud, D. (ed.), Waterbirds around the world, pp. 854-860. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, UK.Evans, D. M.; Day, K. R. 2002. Hunting disturbance on a large shallow lake: the effectiveness of waterfowl refuges. Ibis 144(1): 2-8.Ferreras, P.; MacDonald, D. W. 1999. The impact of American mink Mustela vison on water birds in the upper Thames. Journal of Applied Ecology 36: 701-708.Grishanov, D. 2006. Conservation problems of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds and their habitats in the Kaliningrad region of Russia. In: Boere, G.; Galbraith, C., Stroud, D. (ed.), Waterbirds around the world, pp. 356. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, UK.Hagemeijer, W.J.M. & Blair, M.J. 1997. The EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds: Their Distribution and Abundance. T & A D Poyser, London.Melville, D. S.; Shortridge, K. F. 2006. Migratory waterbirds and avian influenza in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway with particular reference to the 2003-2004 H5N1 outbreak. In: Boere, G.; Galbraith, C., Stroud, D. (ed.), Waterbirds around the world, pp. 432-438. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, UK.Mondain-Monval, J. Y.; Desnouhes, L.; Taris, J. P. 2002. Lead shot ingestion in waterbirds in the Camargue, (France). Game and Wildlife Science 19(3): 237-246.Musil, P. 2006. A review of the effects of intensive fish production on waterbird breeding populations. In: Boere, G.; Galbraith, C., Stroud, D. (ed.), Waterbirds around the world, pp. 520-521. The Stationary Office, Edinburgh, UK.Snow, D. W.; Perrins, C. M. 1998. The Birds of the Western Palearctic vol. 1: Non-Passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Taylor, B. & van Perlo, B. 1998. Rails: a guide to the rails, crakes, gallinules and coots of the world. Pica Press, Robertsbridge, UK.Taylor, B. (1996). Common Coot (Fulica atra). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2014). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/53695 on 5 March 2015).

Map (see overleaf)