Horned Grebe
Photo courtesy of Sharon Milligan
(If you would like to learn more about Judy, and see more of Sharon's photos, click on the blue title where you can read previously posted articles)
The first time I saw a grebe I sifted through 11 pages of
duck illustrations before the dawn came. A grebe is not a duck! I consider it
my duty to pass that on.
My mistake is common among beginning birders. Beginning
birders make presumptions; in this case, that any bird that swims and dives
must – ergo – be a duck. A little thoughtful attention to a field guide and we
soon learn that many birds swim and dive and are not ducks: Loons, grebes,
cormorants, auks, murres, puffins.
Many a novice birder has foresworn the sauce while being
conned by a grebe. Grebes are charming little tricksters and to be forewarned
is to be forearmed (thus making foreswearing unnecessary).
Keep an open mind when the bird you thought you saw
disappear before your very eyes – without a splash, without a ripple; doesn’t
dive, doesn’t fly, just leaves – and leaves you awestruck! Your eyes do not
play tricks on you. It is just the magic of a water witch disguised in the
thick, glossy plumage of a grebe.
Just what is this water witch/grebe? It is a strong swimmer
and diver, a complete and utter failure on land, a reluctant flier (except when
it absolutely must do that migration thing) and, in my own defense, just a
little bit like a duck.
All 20 species of grebes share certain characteristics;
peculiarly lobed toes with flattened claws (which make for strong surface and
underwater swimming), compact bodies with dense plumage, fairly long necks,
short wings, and hardly any tail at all.
Grebes are fey, and therefore fascinating. They are fully
deserving of the appellation “water witch”. They have the ability to compress
air from their thickly layered feathers and thereby reduce buoyancy; enough to
sink below the surface as smoothly as any high-technology submarine. Once
swimming underwater, grebes can travel great distances before surfacing,
generally away from prying eyes. Small wonder that grebes are called water
witches. Even knowing how they do it does not destroy the magic of their act.
Of the 20 species of grebes worldwide, six of them breed in
North America. Only five have occurred in Mississippi and just three of them
are regular here on the coast.
So that the reader may spend less time wondering and more
time in wonder, there follows a crash course on the grebes which occur
(commonly/regularly) here.
PIED BILLED GREBE: It’s one of the smallest, and may be
found year round, usually in still-water ponds and occasionally in bays and
inlets. It is quite common in winter, when any pond may yield a couple of dozen
“submerging for divers reasons and returning to the surface on sun-dry
errands”. This grebe is drab and brown and has a chicken-like bill, which,
during the breeding season, is adorned with a black ring. It is rare here as a breeder,
but visit any still pond in winter and the rewards should include this
“witchiest” of the water witches.
Pied Billed Grebe - sketch by Judy's son, Desmond
HORNED GREBE: Appears slightly bigger than the above due to
extensive white in the plumage. We see the Horned Grebe, which is fairly
common, in winter in the sound and also in sheltered bays and inlets. It rarely
occurs in ponds. This grebe in winter has a clean look in black and white. The
contrast of white neck and face with the black cap which is slightly “crowned”
toward the rear helps to identify it. Note that the bill is thin and pointed,
quite unlike that of the Pied-billed Grebe. Before this grebe departs (most
will have left by the end of March) it begins its dazzling change into breeding
plumage of black, chestnut and gold, and lucky are we to see him in his natty
nuptials.
EARED GREBE: This fellow matches the preceding two grebes in
size, but could be confused only with the Horned Grebe. Like the Horned Grebe,
it appears here in winter wearing drab winter plumage, witching it up in ponds
(and less likely in a bay or inlet). Eared Grebe is uncommon, but regular. A
careful observer generally can find at least one Eared Grebe somewhere on the
Coast each winter. There are more in evidence this winter (reader: note 1984)
than in any previous winter, so there’s still a good chance to see one.
Separate the Eared from the Horned by remembering that the Eared Grebe has a
“dirty neck” as opposed to the “clean neck” of the Horned Grebe, and sports a
dingy white “ear patch”. Notice too that the head is peaked at about the
center. Shape of heads and bills is important in distinguishing one grebe from
another at a distance. Before the last Eared Grebe has left for its home in the
west, we could be lucky and see one wearing its golden ears and other breeding
finery.
The foregoing supposes that the reader has a field guide and
will use it to augment the thumbnail sketches given here. Those who really want
to get to know our grebes should have no trouble finding the first two. If
there is a wait for the third, it’s well worth it.
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(This article was published in the Sun Herald in February 1984)
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