Hatched

Hatched

Breeding time is over for the Eurasian Coots, now it’s time to raise the chicks.

But, but, but….. sometimes these birds exhibit a strange and striking behavior. Under pressure, such as the lack of food, Coots can be very brutal to their own young. They will bite a young that is begging for food and repeatedly do this until it stops begging and starves to death !
But if the begging keeps going on, then they may even bite so hard that the chick is killed !

Moreover, many young are frequent prey for birds such as herons and gulls.

The least one can say is life ain’t easy for a Coot chick……..

Dutch name : Meerkoet
German name : Blässhuhn
Latin name : Fulica atra