CreatureData

Hawaiian coot

Fulica alai Peale, 1849

NTNear Threatenedbirds

The hawaiian coot (Fulica alai) is a species in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. Recorded adults weigh 459 g to 688 g and live up to 22.3 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.

Hawaiian coot (Fulica alai)
Photo: DickDaniels ( http://theworldbirds.org/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the hawaiian coot

Weight
459 g – 688 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
22.3 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
22.3 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
22.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
7.7src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
2src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the hawaiian coot live?

Not recorded

What is the hawaiian coot?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The ʻAlae keʻokeʻo (Fulica alai), also known as the Hawaiian coot in English, is a bird in the rail family, Rallidae, that is endemic to Hawaii. In Hawaiian, ʻalae is a noun and means mud hen. Keʻo is an adjective for clear or white. It is similar to the American coot at 33–40.6 cm (13–16 in) in length and weighing around 700 g (1 lb 9 oz). It has black plumage and a prominent white frontal shield. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, coastal saline lagoons, and water storage areas. The bird was federally listed in October 1970 as an endangered species and is considered both endemic and endangered by the state of Hawaiʻi. It is threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators such as the small Asian mongoose. The Makalawena Marsh on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi has been listed as a National Natural Landmark to preserve one of its last nesting areas.

From the Wikipedia article “Hawaiian coot” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hawaiian_coot&oldid=1355306971), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the hawaiian coot endangered?

The hawaiian coot is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.

How is the hawaiian coot classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderGruiformes
  5. familyRallidae
  6. genusFulica
  7. SpeciesFulica alai Peale, 1849

Synonyms Fulica americana alai

Other names and names in other languages (38)
  • غرة هاوايArabic
  • fotja de les HawaiiCatalan
  • lyska havajskáCzech
  • cwtiar HawaiiWelsh
  • Hawaii BlishøneDanish
  • HawaiiblässhuhnGerman
  • Hawai-BläßhuhnGerman
  • havaja fulikoEsperanto
  • Focha hawaianaSpanish
  • Gallareta hawainaSpanish
  • havai laukEstonian
  • چنگر هاواییPersian
  • havaijinnokikanaFinnish
  • Foulque des HawaïFrench
  • ʻalae keaHawaiian
  • Alae Keo KeoHawaiian
  • ʻalae keʻokeʻoHawaiian
  • hawaii szárcsaHungarian
  • Folaga hawaianaItalian
  • Folaga delle HawaiiItalian
  • ハワイオオバンJapanese
  • havajinis laukysLithuanian
  • ഹവായിയൻ കൂറ്റ്Malayalam
  • Kéyah Ałkééʼ Naaznilgo Dah Ndaaʼeełídę́ę́ʼ tóidoozohiiNavajo
  • HawaiimeerkoetDutch
  • hawaiisothøneNorwegian
  • łyska hawajskaPolish
  • carqueja-havaianaPortuguese
  • galeirão-havaianoPortuguese
  • Гавайская лысухаRussian
  • lyska bridlicováSlovak
  • Havajska liskaSerbian
  • hawaiisothönaSwedish
  • Hawaii MekesiTurkish
  • алаїUkrainian
  • 夏威夷骨頂Chinese
  • 夏威夷瓣蹼雞Chinese
  • 夏威夷骨顶Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the hawaiian coot

Other species in the same genus Fulica.

LC, Least Concern
Giant coot (Fulica gigantea)

Giant coot

Fulica gigantea

Rallidae

CompareHawaiian coot vs Eurasian cootHawaiian coot vs American cootHawaiian coot vs Red-knobbed cootHawaiian coot vs Giant coot

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the hawaiian coot?

An adult hawaiian coot weighs 459 g – 688 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the hawaiian coot endangered?

The hawaiian coot is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.

How long does the hawaiian coot live?

The hawaiian coot has a recorded lifespan of 22.3 years.

What kind of animal is the hawaiian coot?

The hawaiian coot (Fulica alai) belongs to the family Rallidae in the order Gruiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Hawaiian coot (Fulica alai). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/hawaiian-coot

MLA

“Hawaiian coot (Fulica alai).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/hawaiian-coot.

BibTeX
@misc{hawaiian_coot_2026,
  title = {Hawaiian coot (Fulica alai)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/hawaiian-coot},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}