The intermediate development style

I like keeping development style simple – most birds are either precocial or altricial. Precocial birds in Frank’s simple world have young that feed themselves – think waterfowl and game birds. Altricial young are fed by their parents until they are nearly full grown. Coots don’t fit my simple dichotomy – they feed small chicks, but young coots also search out a large fraction of their own food. Coots are truly intermediate.