I saw some American Coots.
Near Lake Michigan on a raw November day, they were freezing their butts. They’ll soon drift south. But today, they were cold coots.
The words, “cold coot,” got me thinking about the words, “old coot.” And this got me wondering how old these cold coots might be.
I went to a bunch of websites that had information about the life spans of birds. Details are surprisingly sketchy.
According to a Stanford University report, the oldest American Coot studied by researchers made it to 22. But that’s pretty abnormal.
The general belief among ornithologists about coot age is that these birds are lucky to make it to 9.
So if you see a 9-year old coot, you can call him an old coot.
Like in: “Hey, you old coot, watch out for that Red-tailed Hawk, or you’ll never get south.”
I mention this because on another day I saw a hollowed-out coot carcass under a tree where a Red-tailed Hawk perched. The hawk was belching and picking coot feathers out of his beak.
Science tells us that most wild birds are lucky to survive for just a couple of years. Some guy in England maintains that Robins live to be 1 or 2, max.
Larger birds live longer than small ones. Here are some longevity records: Great Blue Heron, 23. Mallard, 26. Downy Woodpecker, 11. American Robin, 14. Northern Cardinal 15. House Sparrow 13
But they’re records, equivalent to saying a human lived to 120 by eating yogurt every day.
According to information gathered after Googling around on this subject, it seems the average life span for most wild birds is in the one to five year range.
In any case, the coot I saw was probably not very old. Just cold. That, however, doesn’t mean there wasn’t an old coot in the neighborhood, watching it.
Your interest in words always interests me. I looked up old coot on “goodwords” and it said…The coot is an unloved and unlovely aquatic bird that shares habitat and migration patterns with ducks. Among duck hunters, the coot is considered a pest and a distraction. It is also a truly ugly and awkward bird, and virtually inedible to most people. So to call someone an “old coot” is to label them as a pest, unattractive, sort of an unwelcome hanger-on. Also, the coot is reluctant to fly, and when it does, it makes a great commotion in its attempt to get airborne, running across the water and flapping frantically. “Old coot” may also, therefore, suggest an old man who is slow to rise and reluctant to move…..
The only question is at what age does one become an old coot…50, 60, 70? To somebody in their 20s an old coot could be 40. In fact I know old coots who are in their 40s. I know people who were born old coots. Thanks for the ideas.