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Out of Gas
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Out of Gas

All this swimming around chasing mom makes a newly hatched American Coot chick pooped! Research has shown the orange-tipped plumes on the chicks face and neck, known as chick ornaments, insure parental attention. Really? Chatfield Bluffs, Littleton, CO

American CootJuly

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  • Who's Hungry?
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  • Dad's here! Let the begging begin!
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  • No, the orange plume feathers (known as "chick ornaments") on these youngsters is not the work of some human teenage tagger with a spay can, it's actually an adaptation resulting from the parents preference to feed the most colorful chick in the clutch. The two adults were feeding a total of four chicks, not necessarily all their own as this species is notorious for brood parasitism, where another female will slip her own eggs into the nest. Pretty sneeky huh?
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  • Out of Gas
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  • Leaping For Lunch
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