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Difference between Coot, Moorhen wings?

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:38 pm
by Bazzer69
I have a couple of pairs of wings both of which are nearly black, one has a slight reddish tinge to it, the main difference is the size, one is nearly twice the size of the other. Can anyone help me ID the wings?

Re: Difference between Coot, Moorhen wings?

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:33 pm
by zen leecher
Coot, as I'm familiar with, is a slate gray.

Re: Difference between Coot, Moorhen wings?

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 12:03 am
by Bazzer69
Wings
Wings
IMG_3357.JPG (103.71 KiB) Viewed 6960 times
zen leecher wrote:Coot, as I'm familiar with, is a slate gray.

Re: Difference between Coot, Moorhen wings?

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 12:05 am
by Bazzer69
Bazzer69 wrote:
The attachment IMG_3357.JPG is no longer available
zen leecher wrote:Coot, as I'm familiar with, is a slate gray.
The smaller one has a little white on the leading edge

Re: Difference between Coot, Moorhen wings?

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:01 am
by Bazzer69
Ok, my internet searching has shown me the smaller one is in fact waterhen/moorhen and I reckon the larger to be coot.

Re: Difference between Coot, Moorhen wings?

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 7:06 am
by tie2fish
Judging from the color, I would agree that the one on the left is waterhen. Can't vouch for the other one though.

Re: Difference between Coot, Moorhen wings?

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:22 am
by joaniebo
Barry

Take a look at Veniards web site for pics of Moorhen / Waterhen, Coot, Jackdaw & Crow wings:

http://www.veniard.com/section1/feathers

Bob

Re: Difference between Coot, Moorhen wings?

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:25 am
by William Anderson
Barry, I would agree with your identification. So to go a step further, you'll want to find comparable feathers from the same location on each wing and tie up a spider pattern, put a toothpick through the eye of the hook and dunk them in a cup of water. In my experience, the waterhen has a softer, whisper barb and the hackle has a livelier action to it. The coot has a more firm barb movement, more springy and very lively, but with a more structural action. Both of these feathers are very useful, although I bought a coot skin about a decade ago, and you can't tell by looking at it that i've used it. The call for a hackle that size might come up for steel headers or streamers, but I never tie spiders that big.

Here's my favorite more hen pattern. It's a killer in a #16 or #14.

Image

happy tying.

w

Re: Difference between Coot, Moorhen wings?

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 12:45 pm
by zen leecher
Bazzer69 wrote:
Bazzer69 wrote:
IMG_3357.JPG
zen leecher wrote:Coot, as I'm familiar with, is a slate gray.
The smaller one has a little white on the leading edge
If you are correct in the wing on the left being moorhen then the difference between moorhen and coot is moorhen has a hint of brown mixed in the wing. Educational photos and thanks for posting.