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Eared Grebe

Podiceps nigricollisOrder: PODICIPEDIFORMESFamily: Grebes (Podicipedidae)

Eared Grebe Portrait
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General

Eared Grebe: Small grebe with black upperparts, dark chestnut-brown flanks, and white underparts. Head and neck are black with orange feathers on face. Eyes are red. Sexes are similar. Winter adult is gray with darker upperparts, mottled underparts, and dark face with distinct white lower margin.

Range and Habitat

Eared Grebe: Breeds from British Columbia, southern Manitoba and the Dakotas south to California and New Mexico. Spends winters on the Pacific, Gulf, and Atlantic (rare) coasts, and occasionally on open water in the interior southwest and Texas. Preferred habitats include marshy lakes and ponds; open bays and ocean during the winter.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"poo-eee-chk", "ooEEK", "ooEEKa"

Interesting Facts

  • The most abundant grebe in the world, the Eared Grebe occurs in greatest numbers on Mono Lake and the Great Salt Lake in fall, where it doubles its weight in preparation for a nonstop flight to its wintering grounds in the southwestern United States and Mexico.
  • For perhaps nine to ten months each year this species is flightless; this is the longest flightless period of any bird in the world capable of flight at all.
  • On cold, sunny mornings, it sunbathes by facing away from the sun and raising its rump, exposing dark underlying skin to light. This behavior may make the bird appear to have a distinctive "high-stern" profile.
  • A group of grebes are collectively known as a "water dance" of grebes.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Eared Grebe
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Podiceps nigricollis
Length12 - 13 Inches
Wingspan22.5 Inches

Eared Grebe

Eared Grebe: Small grebe with black upperparts, dark chestnut-brown flanks, white underparts. Head and neck are black, orange feathers on face. Eyes are red. Black legs and feet. Forages by diving and swimming underwater. Feeds on aquatic insects and crustaceans. Direct flight with rapid wing beats.

● Song: "poo-eee-chk", "ooEEK", "ooEEKa"

● Foraging & Feeding: Eared Grebe: Feeds on aquatic insects, small crustaceans, and fish; forages at the water surface or by diving and swimming underwater.

● Breeding & nesting: Eared Grebe: One to nine white to light blue eggs are laid on a floating nest made of vegetation in a marsh. Usually nests in dense colonies. Incubation ranges from 20 to 22 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Eared Grebe: Pied-billed Grebe has a thick, horn-colored bill and brown plumage. Red-necked Grebe is much larger, and has a longer bill with yellow base. Horned Grebe has a straighter bill without an uptilted tip and blockier head without a peak at the center of the crown.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Eared Grebe Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Eared Grebe: Breeds from British Columbia, southern Manitoba and the Dakotas south to California and New Mexico. Spends winters on the Pacific, Gulf, and Atlantic (rare) coasts, and occasionally on open water in the interior southwest and Texas. Preferred habitats include marshy lakes and ponds; open bays and ocean during the winter.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight10.3 Ounces