I would like to identify a bird that I saw on a recent trip to
Amsterdam. I often saw these birds swimming in the canals. They had
black bodies with white faces and beaks. They were about the size of a
typical duck. In the picture at the following link, there are two such
birds building a nest:
http://xenon.stanford.edu/~jenkins/europe/europe-Pages/Image148.html
The one at the upper lefthand corner of the nest is somewhat more
visible. I would assume that it is a male and the one sitting on the
nest is a female. They appeared to be pretty similar physically.

Can you tell me the name of this species?

Dear dustyfields,

I know those birds very well. Their English name is "Bald Coot" (also
Common Coot, European Coot or Eurasian Coot), from the rail family of
water birds. Their Latin name is Fulica atra, from the Rallidae
family. This kind of rail is a very common sight in Europe. The German
name, by the way, is Blässhuhn.

Here is a brief description of the Coot in the Wikipedia Encyclopedia;
the large photo shows an immature bird that does not look typical yet
(you will note that the distinctive white shield on the forehead is
still missing):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Coot

This photo from the same article shows a mature Coot with all typical features:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Coot.arp.750pix.jpg

Hope this answers your question!
Regards,
Scriptor

Perfect, thanks!