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Abstract
The present study into reproduction ecology of the Coot was conducted over a period of 2 years (2010–2011) in the nature reserve of Lake Réghaïa situated 30 km east of Algiers. The nature reserve of Lake Réghaïa was designated as a Ramsar site of international importance in 2003. The first nests of the Coot were found towards the second and the last decades of April in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Meanwhile, the last nests were observed in the first decade of June in both years of the current study. The total number of built nests was 37 in 2010, and 45 in 2011. Coot nests are mainly made of Typha, which is proved by the fact that 97.3% of the nests recorded in 2010 and 77.8% of those in 2011 were built of this plant. The observations performed during the reproduction period show that the majority of nests were placed amid tufts of Typha. Coot nests are characterized by an average internal diameter of 19.3 cm, an average external diameter of 30.5 cm and an average depth of 7.9 cm. Nests are placed amid stands of aquatic vegetation at an average height of 17.1 cm above water level and at an average distance of 4.1 m from the shore. The average water depth in zones of Coot nesting is 63.1 cm. The egg laying period lasted from 10 April to 10 June with the maximum of 17 nests built during the second decade of April in 2010 and the maximum of 22 nests built during the third decade of April (from 21 April to 10 June) in 2011. Coot clutches recorded in Réghaïa varied between 1 and 10 eggs in 2010 and between 1 and 11 eggs in 2011. Out of the 171 eggs recorded in 2010, 166 hatched and 5 were destroyed by predators. During the second year of the study, we recorded 208 eggs, 165 of which were carried away by abundant rains, 11 were destroyed by predators and 6 eggs were abandoned because the nest was particularly damaged by rain.