First time I saw Eurasian coot babies I thought they looked like punk rockers with their red-yellow head full of sticky feathers. Later on they get bold and reminds like vulture with their bold heads.
Breeding
In Finland Eurasian Coots breed in the end of April, usually 4-12 eggs. The chicks hatch at different times and leave the nest at the age of 3-4 days and return to the nest overnight. The mothers defend the nest and later the chicks furiously and unhesitatingly attack even the larger intruders.
Nests of ducks are often seized and used as roosting sites, the unfortunate owner’s eggs being pushed off into the water. Young ducks and grebes are sometimes killed. The nest is often a floating raft of vegetation. Both sexes share incubation and care of the young. If food becomes scarce, the young birds may be killed by the parents.
Very endangered in Finland
Did you know that Eurasian Coot if very endangered and protected in Finland. Even it is protected, It is one of the game birds. It is very hard to understand why hunting is allowed.
I hope these photos help to protect Eurasian Goot. It is characterful bird and fun to watch.
I hope you have a great day and thank you for reading my blog!
Minna from Finnish nature 😊
FINNISH NATURE photos 
Hello Minna.
How wonderful photos. I admire your skill to shoot lovely nature photos. I am not sure if I have seen Nokikana in my life, if then when I was kid. Thank you sharing your photos with us.
Have a wonderful day!
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Hello Matti, thank you! As you live in Espoo, you can see Nokikana in Suomenojan lintuallas. There are many other rare birds living as well. I have taken these photographs in Porla former fishbonds (Lohja). It is nice to watch Nokikana, it can be very aggressive towards other birds and it runs over the water when attacking 🙂
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Lovely photos! 🙂
I am surprised that hunting is allowed if it’s protected.
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Thank you Lynette! The same many Finns are wondering: how is it possible to hunt endengared bird….
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How very sweet. Bless them.
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Thank you!
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The chicks are adorable! I also wonder how this bird can be hunted when it’s on the endangered list.
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Thank you Magickmermaid! Nobody can’t understand the decision of hunting these endangered birds.
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Super adorable, I love these, Minna! Our American Coots looks very similar and I’ve seen many over the years. But I’ve never got to see the chicks who look equally similar, only in photos, so seeing yours are a treat!
I hope your Coots can gain population to survive their endangerment. Incredible that they allow them to still be hunted. 😢 Our Coots are common and widespread. They are allowed to be hunted, but it’s mostly for sport because our Coots aren’t considered edible. 😢
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Thank you Donna 😊 I am glad you liked them.
This year I have been lucky as I have isolated myself in Lohja, where I have a summer cottage. I was not aware that here are so many Eurasian coots nesting and now there are a lot of chicks 👍The bonds they are living are quite small so there is a pretty good change to get close and to get some photos.
I don’t know why they still allow hunting of many endangered water birds besides Coots. I also read that the Coot meet is not very tasty… So there should not be any reason to hunt them except for sport 😖
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