CreatureData

Red-knobbed coot

Fulica cristata J. F. Gmelin, 1789

LCLeast Concernbirds

The red-knobbed coot (Fulica cristata) is a species in the family Rallidae, order Gruiformes. Recorded adults weigh 761.5 g to 917.5 g and live up to 5.67 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Red-knobbed coot (Fulica cristata)
Photo: shi zhao · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the red-knobbed coot

Weight
761.5 g – 917.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
75 cm – 85 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
5.67 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
21 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
5.9src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the red-knobbed coot?

RED-KNOBBED COOT · WINGSPAN 85 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 85 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the red-knobbed coot is about 50% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the red-knobbed coot

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.

Where does the red-knobbed coot live?

Not recorded

What is the red-knobbed coot?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The red-knobbed coot or crested coot (Fulica cristata) is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae.

It is a resident breeder across much of Africa and in southernmost Spain on freshwater lakes and ponds. It builds a nest of dead reeds near the water's edge or more commonly afloat, laying about 7 eggs (or more in good conditions).

From the Wikipedia article “Red-knobbed coot” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red-knobbed_coot&oldid=1369826094), 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 red-knobbed coot endangered?

The red-knobbed coot is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  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 Least Concern species.

How is the red-knobbed coot classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderGruiformes
  5. familyRallidae
  6. genusFulica
  7. SpeciesFulica cristata J. F. Gmelin, 1789

Synonyms Fuligula lateralis

Other names and names in other languages (51)
  • African cootEnglish
  • Crested cootEnglish
  • Crested cootEnglish
  • RKCOEnglish
  • BleshoenderAfrikaans
  • غرة مقنزعةArabic
  • Vocha cornutaAragonese
  • Качулата лискаBulgarian
  • Червеночела лискаBulgarian
  • Jualenn gribennekBreton
  • fotja banyudaCatalan
  • lyska hřebenatáCzech
  • cwtiar gopogWelsh
  • KamblishøneDanish
  • KammblässhuhnGerman
  • ΛειροφαλαρίδαGreek
  • KrestfulikoEsperanto
  • kresta fulikoEsperanto
  • Focha morunaSpanish
  • sagarlaukEstonian
  • چنگر کاکلیPersian
  • kruununokikanaFinnish
  • Foulque huppéeFrench
  • Foulque à crêteFrench
  • Foulque caronculéeFrench
  • Foulque de MadagascarFrench
  • Cearc chocdheargIrish
  • אגמית מצויצתHebrew
  • krunata liskaCroatian
  • bütykös szárcsaHungarian
  • HnúðhænaIcelandic
  • Folaga crestataItalian
  • Folaga cristataItalian
  • アフリカオオバンJapanese
  • kuoduotasis laukysLithuanian
  • OtrikaMalagasy
  • KnobbelmeerkoetDutch
  • knoppsothøneNorwegian
  • łyska czubataPolish
  • galeirão-de-cristaPortuguese
  • Хохлатая лысухаRussian
  • KruvdnogiehpavuonccisNorthern Sami
  • lyska hrebenatáSlovak
  • grebenasta liskaSlovenian
  • Krunasta liskaSerbian
  • kamsothönaSwedish
  • Tepeli MekeTurkish
  • лиска африканськаUkrainian
  • 紅瘤白骨頂Chinese
  • 红瘤白骨顶Chinese
  • 鳳頭瓣蹼雞Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the red-knobbed coot

Other species in the same genus Fulica.

LC, Least Concern
Giant coot (Fulica gigantea)

Giant coot

Fulica gigantea

Rallidae

CompareRed-knobbed coot vs Eurasian cootRed-knobbed coot vs American cootRed-knobbed coot vs Giant cootRed-knobbed coot vs Horned coot

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the red-knobbed coot?

An adult red-knobbed coot weighs 761.5 g – 917.5 g and has a wingspan of 75 cm – 85 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the red-knobbed coot endangered?

The red-knobbed coot is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the red-knobbed coot live?

The red-knobbed coot has a recorded lifespan of 5.67 years.

What kind of animal is the red-knobbed coot?

The red-knobbed coot (Fulica cristata) 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). Red-knobbed coot (Fulica cristata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-knobbed-coot

MLA

“Red-knobbed coot (Fulica cristata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-knobbed-coot.

BibTeX
@misc{red_knobbed_coot_2026,
  title = {Red-knobbed coot (Fulica cristata)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-knobbed-coot},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}