For extinct and prehistoric species, see article text Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae.

The genus Fulica was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.

The featherless shield gave rise to the expression "as bald as a coot",[9] which the Oxford English Dictionary cites in use as early as 1430.

They tend to have short, rounded wings and are weak fliers, though northern species nevertheless can cover long distances.

In southern Louisiana, the coot is referred to by the French name "poule d'eau", which translates into English as "water hen".

Chick mortality occurs mainly due to starvation rather than predation as coots have difficulty feeding a large family of hatchlings on the tiny shrimp and insects that they collect.