Careful Coots: Do birds count their eggs before they hatch?

A coot may tally the eggs in her nest, a rare example of an animal counting in the wild, suggests a new study.

COOTS EGGED. An American coot can often tell that something’s wrong when neighbors of the same species sneak eggs (the two darker ones in picture below) into its nest. Lyon

American coots (Fulica americana) wage covert egg wars among themselves, sneaking into a neighboring nest to deposit an egg for the other family to raise, explains Bruce E.