Sometimes called Common Coot. This species resembles the familiar American Coot (F. americana) from which it differs in lack of a dark red callous at the top of its frontal shield, lack of dark ring on bill tip, lack of white undertail coverts and in having the proximal end of its frontal shield pinched by pointed wedges of dark feathers on either side. Like its congeners, the American and Red-knobbed Coot (F. cristata), the Eurasian Coot has a breeding strategy that includes conspecific brood parasitism (egg dumping). Females have large clutch sizes but early hatched chicks have higher survival than those hatched later. Thus female Coots improve their reproductive success by laying the later part of their clutch in the nests of others.
Four subspecies are usually recognized. This is the widespread nominate race which ranges across the Palearctic. Other subspecies are confined to New Guinea and Australasia. They differ in being generally smaller with less white on their secondaries, darker underparts and grayer bill and legs.
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References:
Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J. (eds) 1993. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Vol. 2, raptors to lapwings. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Samraoui, F. & Samraoui, B. 2007. The reproductive ecology of the Common coot (Fulica atra) in the Hauts Plateaux, northeast Algeria. Waterbirds 30, 133-139.
Taylor, B. & Kirwan, G.M. (2018). Common Coot (Fulica atra). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/53695 on 21 August 2018).