Les Jones contacted me via email to see if I would be willing to contribute to a cooperative effort, in something of a Friday Bird Blogging tradition.

So here's my contribution to the effort:

An American coot, Fulica americana.

L 15.5" WS 24" WT 1.4 lb (650g)

Per the Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America:

Common on ponds and in marshes. Walks on lawns & golf courses to graze on grass or dives for aquatic vegetation, which it brings to the surface to eat, bobbing buoyantly like a cork. Forms large tight flocks on water and on land. Duck-like, but stubby white bill and round head and body. Adult has red frontal shield; swollen white frontal shield shown by occasional males throughout range (more often in south).

UPDATE: Yes, I know it's not Friday yet.

UPDATE II: And it would be a funny looking duck, if it were indeed a duck. A coot is a member of the family rallidae, which would make it a rail, in common parlance.

(Photo (c) EKOL Photography, 2007. Taken at Radnor Lake, Nashville TN.)