Coots are usually most unwilling to share food. except with family
members - adult birds however will bring food, found by diving, to
their offspring and to young members of the same family group. I would
expect that this is what you saw. Young birds are brownish and lack the
conspicuous white face-shield of the adults.
Anthea Fleming
On 28/01/2016 3:34 PM, Barney Enders wrote:
> I spent a week on a houseboat on the Murray over New Year and around the
> boat there were a few Coots and Dusky Moorhens.
>
> The creek we were on the water was very clear and you could see the weed
> growing up from the bottom but stopping 600 mm from the surface.
>
> The Coots being able to dive would dive and get the weed and bring it to the
> surface and feed the Moorhens who couldn't dive but would follow them around
> all day.
>
>
>
> They usually operated in trios of one Coot to two Moorhens
>
> If the Coot popped up and the Moorhens were some distance away they would
> call them and wait till they swam to them and let them take the weed from
> their beaks.
>
>
>
> I have seen Pelicans interacting with Cormorants in deep water, following
> them around waiting till they surfaced to swallow the fish they have caught
> and then grabbing the
>
> Cormorants and shaking them till they dropped the fish , but I wouldn't call
> that voluntary co-operation.
>
> A bit like the Chinese and Japanese with their trained Cormorants with the
> ring around there necks to stop them swallowing their catch.
>
>
>
> Is this the usual practice between the Coot and the Moorhen ????
>
>
>
> It was not a one off occurrence as they did for the week and were still
> doing it when we left.
>
> I took some photos of them doing it as they were feeding just at the back of
> the houseboat.
>
>
>
> Barney.
>
>
>
>
>
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