The name coot comes from an old English word said to resemble the bird’s short, sharp call (“coot” or “cut”).

A vocal bird, the coot gives a variety of brisk guttural calls, including “kyik” or “kyok”. There are occasional short honking calls as well. 

Our coot is considered to be the same species as one found through Europe and much of Asia, hence its name Eurasian coot. It is a native bird here, not introduced, despite its extensive range elsewhere.

There are several species of coots worldwide, with most of them having a bare ‘plate’ on the face, above the bill. This is white in our bird. These bare forehead patches have resulted in the saying, “as bald as a coot”, or “bald coot”.