Editing Coot (section)

==Behaviour and ecology==
Coots are omnivorous, eating mainly plant material, but also small animals, fish and eggs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ornithology |first=British Trust for |date=2015-04-07 |title=Coot |url=https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/coot |access-date=2024-06-01 |website=BTO - British Trust for Ornithology |language=en}}</ref> They are aggressively territorial during the breeding season, but are otherwise often found in sizeable flocks on the shallow vegetated lakes they prefer.

Chick mortality occurs mainly due to starvation rather than predation as coots have difficulty feeding a large family of hatchlings on the tiny shrimp and insects that they collect. Many chicks die in the first 10 days after hatching, when they are most dependent on adults for food.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.natureoutside.com/this-coot-has-a-secret/|title=This Coot has a Secret! - NatureOutside|date=20 June 2015}}</ref> Coots can be very brutal to their own young under pressure such as the lack of food, and after about three days they start attacking their own chicks when they beg for food. After a short while, these attacks concentrate on the weaker chicks, who eventually give up [[Begging behavior in animals|begging]] and die. The coot may eventually raise only two or three out of nine hatchlings.<ref>''[[The Life of Birds]]'', [[David Attenborough]]. The Problems of Parenthood. 10:20.</ref> In this attacking behaviour, the parents are said to "tousle" their young. This can result in the death of the chick.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=uRS2WusqW8kC&dq=coots+attack+chicks&pg=PA203 Clutton-Brock, TH., ''The Evolution of Parental Care'', Princeton University Press, 1991  p. 203.]</ref>