Quantcast

Pied-billed Grebe

Podilymbus podicepsOrder: PODICIPEDIFORMESFamily: Grebes (Podicipedidae)

Pied-billed Grebe Portrait
  Copyright 2002-2007 Whatbird.com
Click here for licensing information Splitbar

General

Pied-billed Grebe: Medium-sized, stocky grebe with brown upperparts, paler brown underparts with barred sides and flanks, and distinct white undertail coverts. Chin is black and bill is white with central black ring. Eyes are dark. Sexes are similar. Winter adult has white chin and lacks ring on bill. Juvenile resembles winter adult but has brown streaks on face and upper neck.

Range and Habitat

Pie-billed Grebe: Breeds from British Columbia, southern Mackenzie, and Nova Scotia southward. Spends winters in the southern states or wherever water remains open. Preferred habitats include marshes and ponds.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"cow-cow-cow-cow, cow, cow, cowp, cowp, cowp"

Interesting Facts

  • The Pied-billed Grebe is rarely seen in flight. It prefers to escape predators by diving, and it migrates at night.
  • Although it swims like a duck, it does not have webbed feet. Each toe has lobes extending out on the sides that provide extra surface area for paddling.
  • Folk names of this grebe include dabchick, devil-diver, dive-dapper, hell-diver, and water witch.
  • A group of grebes are collectively known as a "water dance" of grebes.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

Splitbar
Range Map for Pied-billed Grebe
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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 Podilymbus podiceps
Length12 - 15 Inches
Wingspan22.5 Inches

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe: Medium-sized, stocky grebe with brown upperparts, paler brown underparts with barred sides and flanks, and distinct white undertail coverts. Chin is black and bill is white with central black ring. Eyes are dark. Feeds on aquatic insects and vegetation, small fish and crustaceans.

● Song: "cow-cow-cow-cow, cow, cow, cowp, cowp, cowp"

● Foraging & Feeding: Pied-billed Grebe: Eats aquatic vegetation, insects, fish, and crustaceans; forages by diving from the surface and swimming underwater.

● Breeding & nesting: Pied-billed Grebe: Two to ten light blue eggs are laid in a well-hidden floating nest made of dead marsh vegetation anchored to emergent plants. Incubation ranges from 23 to 27 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Pied-billed Grebe: Least Grebe is smaller and has yellow eyes and slender, dark bill.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Pied-billed Grebe Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Pie-billed Grebe: Breeds from British Columbia, southern Mackenzie, and Nova Scotia southward. Spends winters in the southern states or wherever water remains open. Preferred habitats include marshes and ponds.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationVery common
MigrationSome migrate
Weight15.6 Ounces