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Trailmark Reservoir

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All this swimming around chasing mom makes a youngster pooped!
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All this swimming around chasing mom makes a youngster pooped!

  • All this swimming around chasing mom makes a youngster pooped!
  • Moments after mom dives, the young coots immediately start looking around for where she will come up next. The one who gets to her first gets the most food.
  • Moments after mom dove,
  • Furiously flapping his feeble undeveloped wings, the newly hatched American Coot begs its mother for food.
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  • This nest-building American Coot female clearly didn't get the memo, it's almost August! The question is, would this be clutch number 2 or number 3?
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  • This nest-building American Coot female clearly didn't get the memo, it's almost August! The question is, would this be clutch number 2 or number 3?
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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?
  • 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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  • These chick were amazingly alert and would rush from one adult to the other, depending on who was pulling up food. Here is one chick in the wide open.
  • An adult American Coot looking for some nice aquatic vegetation to feed her chicks.
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