*Oology is a branch of ornithology studying bird eggs, nests and breeding behaviour. The word is derived from the Greek oion, meaning egg.
36. American Coot
This part of the Stanislaus Audubon Website is focused on 44 common Central Valley nesting species with background about their nesting habits. Please check the Great Valley Museum Central Valley Egg Collection starting page for links to all the featured species.
AMERICAN COOT NESTING INFORMATION (From birdsoftheworld.org)
Nests - As many as 9 structures may be built during course of laying 2 clutches and as many as 7 for a single clutch. Invariably nests are built over water on floating platforms and almost always associated with dense stands of living or dead emergent vegetation such as reeds, cattails, bulrushes, sedges, grasses, and other species. Generally, female does most nest construction. During construction process, floating dead nest material frequently fastened to adjoining standing live vegetation. Following foundation construction from course stems (basic condition of all display platforms), egg nest is further developed by addition of finer material, which forms egg cup.
Eggs - Subelliptical. Various shades of ground color, including buff, pinkish buff, buffish stone, and cartridge buff. Heavily and evenly covered with small speckles and minute dots of dark brown, purplish brown, or black. Clutch size normally ranges from 8 to 12 eggs.
Incubation - Both parents incubate 23 to 25 days.
Fledging - Young are precocial. Newly hatched coot is covered with thick, black down tipped with bright, stiff, curly, hairlike down feathers ranging from long and orange on dorsal surface and wings to short and yellow on ventral surface. Although capable of leaving nest as early as 6 h after hatching, undisturbed hatchlings may remain under shelter of brooding parent for many hours and may not leave nest for 1–2 days.
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