Coots are medium sized water birds. They belong to the order Gruiformes an eclectic group of wading and terrestrial birds and the family of Rails Ralidae and the genus Fulica of which there are 11 living species shown below. They are not in the duck family. Clicking on the common name will take you to a full Wikipedia description. However, you will have to click on the Cardinals folder then the Coot folder to get back.
These with photos are highlighted in red.