BIBY TV's video: You beaut Eurasian Coots Up close with the Aussie kind

These Eurasian Coots (Fulica atra australis) were filmed across multiple visits to Centennial Park and Pitt Town Lagoon (aka Pitt Town Nature Reserve) in 2017-2019. Both sites are located in Sydney (NSW, Australia), with the former nestled in the inner suburbs and the latter beside acreage properties in the outer ring. Most of the footage (i.e. everything up to 3.33) was obtained from the highly accessible Centennial Park. This surprisingly large green space contains a variety of habitats. If you are just in town for a short time (e.g. work conference, Aussie birding adventure or general tour), it is well worth an excursion for a good dose of nature and myriad bird species (see https://ebird.org/hotspot/L945869). We would recommend a quieter week day as Centennial Park is popular for sport and recreation on weekends. Clearly though, many birds are thriving amongst the human noise and activity. By contrast, Pitt Town Lagoon is only visited by keen birders. (A sightings list can be found here: https://ebird.org/australia/hotspot/L928017) Other than a sizable bird hide, there are no facilities, although historic Pitt Town is a short walk away. It is also more difficult to get close to most birds. But the ambience and sunsets make this place very special. The Eurasian Coot is one of Australia’s more common waterbirds and is regularly seen at both filming sites, often in large numbers. But as the name suggests, the range of the species includes Eurasia, as well as North Africa, Indonesia, New Guinea and New Zealand (the latter two being home to the Australian subspecies). With this level of familiarity, it might be easy to overlook their striking looks and features (e.g. lobed toes). Indeed, we came to appreciate them anew as we captured various behaviours, interactions and special close-ups. What stunning birds! Eurasian Coots are beautifully adapted to aquatic life and spend a lot of their time in, on and under water, including when asleep. While the lobed toes undoubtedly help them to swim, dive and patter across water before take-off, presumably they also better distribute weight when walking on floating mats of vegetation. The Australian subspecies is primarily vegetarian and more so than other Eurasian Coots. Not only do they feed on submerged and surface plant matter, they also graze on lawns and short pasture. To read more about these handsome members of the Rail family visit http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Fulica-atra To see more of Centennial Park and its birds, check out our previous productions https://youtu.be/YkxFDZCPFM4 and https://youtu.be/FkljV1a8uwk For an overview of the glorious Pitt Town Lagoon go to https://youtu.be/TKf19D4IgBo