I Believe I Can Fly! (22595474272)

Description:

Description: It is pretty rare to see a coot flying. They are really poor at flight as they do not fly often and their flight muscles are poorly developed. When they do decide to actually fly, they need a really long runway to get airborne. It is believed that they migrate at night, further reducing the chance of seeing them fly. Disproportinately large feet that are designed for walking on mud are used to run across the surface of the water to generate enough speed to get airborne. They must be able to fly because they migrate, it is just rarely seen. It seems that they just appear one day on the wetlands and then at some point in the fall they dissappear and are gone till spring. Photo: American coot attempting to fly. Tom Koerner/USFWS. Date: 23 October 2015, 19:06. Source: I Believe I Can Fly!. Author: USFWS Mountain-Prairie.