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Breeding Range (Fig. 61). Abundant on the Missouri Coteau; common (locally abundant) in the Turtle Mountains and on the Northeastern and Southern Drift Plains; fairly common (locally abundant) on the Northwestern Drift Plain; uncommon and local in the Agassiz Lake Plain and Southwestern Slope Regions.

Breeding Habitat. Breeding populations are distributed quite generally over most fresh to brackish, seasonal and semipermanent ponds and lakes, particularly those that contain a combination of emergent marsh cover and areas of open water. Usually two or more pairs are of regular occurrence on ponds of these types that cover one acre or more, and isolated nesting pairs with active nests have been found on ponds as small as 0.2 acre on the Missouri Coteau in Stutsman County (RES). Considerable numbers of breeding American Coots also are found on shallow river impoundments that are managed for waterfowl, and occasional pairs occur on stock ponds.

Common emergent plants in wetlands occupied by this species include common burreed, whitetop, tall mannagrass, common spikerush, slough sedge, marsh smartweed, cattails, hardstem bulrush, slender bulrush, river bulrush, and alkali bulrush.

Nesting. Breeding season: Late April to mid-September; peak, early May to mid-August. Extreme egg dates (762 nests): April 29 [1963] to August 13 [1965] in Stutsman County (H. A. Kantrud, RES). Extreme dates of dependent young (354 broods): May 22 [1963] to September 15 [1964] in Stutsman County (H. A. Kantrud, RES).

Hardstem bulrush was the prevalent emergent species used for nesting cover by coots. It was an important component cover species at 433 nest sites (63%) out of 691 that were studied intensively; at 319 nest sites (46%) it was the only cover species present. Other nesting cover species that were found to be of local importance included cattails, river bulrush, alkali bulrush, whitetop, and slough sedge. Water depths were measured at 677 nest sites and found to range from 5 to 57 inches, with a mean depth of 23.1 inches (H. A. Kantrud, RES).

Indicated clutch size (502 nests): 5 to 15 eggs; mean, 8.8 eggs. Large clutches included 4 nests with 15 eggs, 5 nests with 14 eggs, 14 nests with 13 eggs, and 26 nests with 12 eggs.

Figure 61. Breeding Range of American Coot.

American Coot on nest. Stutsman County, July 1973 (photo by Luther Goldman).

Eggs and newly hatched young of the American Coot. Burleigh County, June 1960 (photo by Shin Koyama).