Grebe, Red-Necked

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Grebes — Family Podicipedidae 101 Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena Winter: One was at Sweetwater Reservoir (S12) 20 December 1969–2 January 1970 (AFN 24:538, 1970), one Uncommon as a winter visitor even in coastal was at the south end of San Diego Bay (V10) 14 March northern California, the Red-necked Grebe is casual 1977 (AB 31:372, 1977), and one was at Santee Lakes (P12) as far south as San Diego County, where there are 30 December 1984–6 January 1985 (D. and N. Kelly, AB three well-supported records. These are the south- 39:209, 1985). Other published reports from the 1950s ernmost for the species along the Pacific coast; the and 1960s are more likely of misidentified Horned Grebes Red-necked Grebe is unknown in Mexico. (Unitt 1984). Eared Grebe Podiceps nigricollis Grebe winters by the thousands. Though the grebe Though highly migratory, the Eared Grebe is also is still common on both fresh and salt water else- flightless for much of the year; its breast muscles where, the numbers are much smaller. As a breeding atrophy except when needed for migration. Breeding bird the Eared Grebe is rare and irregular in San birds use ponds and marshes with fresh to brackish Diego County, which lies near the southern tip of water, but nonbreeders concentrate in water that is the breeding range. hypersaline. In San Diego County, such conditions Winter: The salt works at the south end of San Diego Bay are found in south San Diego Bay, where the Eared are the center for the Eared Grebe in San Diego County. .

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The Penguin-Dance of the Great Crested Grebe
NOTES The Penguin-dance of the Great Crested Grebe.—The Editors have asked me to comment briefly on the remarkable photograph of the Penguin-dance of the Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) published in this issue (plate 48). Comparatively few observers have been fortunate enough to "witness this elaborate form of courtship which has rarely been photographed, being the least often performed of this species' four main ceremonies (first described fully and named by J. S. Huxley in Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1914, pp. 491-562). As in the far more common Head- shaking, the male and female grebe play identical r61es in the Penguin-dance, whereas in the Discovery and the "Display" ceremonies the rdles are different though interchangeable. Penguin-dancing usually occurs in the vicinity of the nest-site, within the territory of the pair, and is almost invariably preceded and followed by a long bout of intense Head-shaking in which Habit-preening is absent. The two birds dive and, while submerged, collect a bill-full of ribbony water-weed. On emergence, they swim towards each other with their tippets fully spread and, when quite close, both rear up out of the water simultaneously. They then meet breast to breast with only the very end of the body in the water, feet splashing to keep up, as shown in the photograph. As they sway together thus for a few seconds, they waggle their heads, gradually dropping the weed. After the normal Head-shaking which follows, the pair sometimes swim to the nest-platform where soliciting and copulation may occur.
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(82) FIELD NOTES on the LITTLE GREBE. the Following Observations on the Little Grebe (Podiceps R. Ruficollis) Were Made at Fetch
(82) FIELD NOTES ON THE LITTLE GREBE. BY P. H. TRAHAIR HARTLEY. THE following observations on the Little Grebe (Podiceps r. ruficollis) were made at Fetcham Pond, near Leatherhead, in Surrey, during the last three years. TERRITORY. Little Grebes begin to defend territories in the middle of February. These are small areas—about |- acre—situated in the parts of the very shallow lake that are overgrown with marestail (Hippuris vulgaris). Where several territories border on an open space, free from weeds, this constitutes a neutral area where paired birds can meet and associate with others, without fighting. The actual territories are strictly protected. Both sexes defend their borders, sometimes working together. Terri torial demonstrations-—far more often than not they do not end in actual fighting—take place many times daily between pairs whose marches adjoin. One bird makes a series of short rushes towards his neighbours' territory, flapping his raised wings, and keeping his head and neck outstretched ; at the same time he utters the shrill, tittering call. The owner of the territory advances in the same set style ; between each rush, both birds float with heads drawn in, flank feathers fluffed out, and wings slightly raised. So they approach each other, until they float about a foot apart, and strictly on the territorial border. As they face one another, I have seen one, or both birds peck with an almost nervous movement at the surface of the water, as though picking something up. On one occasion the bird which had started the encounter splashed the water with its beak, and snatched at a weed stem.
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LOONS and GREBES [ ] Common Loon [ ] Pied-Billed Grebe---X
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Identification and Distribution of Clark's Grebe
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1 ID Euring Latin Binomial English Name Phenology Galliformes
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09 Black-Necked Grebe
Javier Blasco -Zumeta & Gerd -Michael Heinze Sponsor is needed. Write your name here 09 Black -necked Grebe Put your logo here MOULT Complete postbreeding moult, usually finished by October. Partial postjuvenile moult, confi- ned to body and tail feathers; finished in some birds by december. Both types of age have a partial prebreeding moult changing tail and body feathers to acquire the breeding plumage. BLACK -NECKED GREBE (Podiceps PHENOLOGY nigricollis ) I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII IDENTIFICATION 28 -34 cm. In breeding plumage with black up- perparts, head and neck; with golden feather STATUS IN ARAGON tufts on sides of head; chestnut flanks; white vent. In non breeding plumage with dark up- Residen but always an uncommon species. perparts; pale underparts; black on head only till A very scarce breeder with some wintering the eyes. birds. SIMILAR SPECIES In Aragon, this species is unmistakable. SEXING Plumage of both sexes alike, but in breeding plumage male usually with more rufous flanks and yellow crest than female . Size can be useful in extreme birds: male with wing longer than 136 mm, bill longer than 27 mm. Female with wing shorter than 127 mm, bill shorter than 21 mm. AGEING 4 types of age can be recognized: Juvenile with pale brown upperparts, often with olive hue; crown and hindneck with olive hue; sides of neck buff; scapulars usually with re- mains of down on tips, iris brown with orange tinge. 1st year winter similar to adults , but with ju- venile brown feathers on upperparts mixed with black adult -type feathers.
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Leucistic Grebe Photo Identification
FEATURED PHOTO LEUCISTIC GREBE at MONO LAKE — AN IDENTIFICatION CHALLENGE LEN BLUMIN, 382 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley, California 94941; [email protected] From 12 to 15 October 2006 I observed and photographed a fully leucistic Podiceps grebe on Mono Lake, California. Subsequent study of the photographs raised questions about which species I had been watching and led to a review of how best to differentiate white-plumaged grebes. Mono Lake hosts more than 1.5 million Eared Grebes (Podiceps nigricollis) in October when most molt into basic plumage (Boyd and Jehl 1998). The grebes gorge on superabundant Mono Lake Alkali Flies (Ephydra hians) and Mono Lake Brine Shrimp (Artemia monica) before heading farther south for the winter (Cullen 1999). Within minutes of our arrival at Mono County Park in the mid-afternoon of 12 October 2006 Patti Blumin, my wife, spotted a white grebe, and we watched it for the next 30 minutes as it foraged at the surface and occasionally dove. The bird’s behavior differed from that of the neighboring Eared Grebes; it dived more frequently and oc- casionally swam like a merganser with just its head below the surface. We relocated and photographed the leucistic grebe on 14 and 15 October, and we later learned it had been spotted earlier by Jim Dunn on 7 October. Upon processing the digital photos, which I had taken at 30× magnification through a spotting scope, I quickly realized the bird’s structure was not typical of the Eared Grebe, showing instead many features of the Horned Grebe (P. auritus) described by Stedman (2000).
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Body Weights of Newly Hatched Anatidae.--As Early As 1928 (E
1965Oct. ] GeneralNotes 645 following day, Boulva found the bird again on the same territory, identified it posi- tively as a Le Conte's Sparrow (Passerherbuluscaudacutus), and photographed it with a 400 mm telephoto lens. On 23 July the second writer, after long observation, identified a Le Conte's Sparrow on the same territory. On 27 July Mr. Franqois Hamel, from "le Club des Ornithologues de Quebec," with Browne, had occasionto study the bird and its song; he too was convinced that the bird was a Le Conte's Sparrow. On 28 July both writers sighted two Le Conte's Sparrows together, captured one of the birds, and banded it (U.S.F.&W.S. band no. 52-39003, size 1). On 31 July, Mr. Raymond Cayouette, Curator of Birds at the Quebec Zoological Garden and President of "le Club des Ornithologuesde Quebec," with the Reverend Robert Plante of the same club, botb accompaniedby the first writer, were able to study the sparrow and were satisfied with the identification. On 11 August Browne caught a young Le Conte's Sparrow incapable of flight and banded it (band no. 103-42113, size 0), while two adults, one seen to be banded, were flying about. The young bird was well-feathered but had some down adhering to the plumage. The primaries were full grown except for the two outermost (pri- maries 8 and 9), which were short and still sheathed at the base. The tail feathers were well grown and pointed. The plumage was typical of the juvenal plumage of the species(see T.
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A PODICEPS PRIMER by Matthew L. Pelikan Wintertime Grebes Lack
A PODICEPS PRIMER by Matthew L. Pelikan Wintertime grebes lack charisma. They swim like logs and fly like windup toys. Their spectacular courtship choreography is months and hundreds of miles away. In dull winter plumage, even an Eared Grebe has a sort of check-it-off, go-warm-up-in-the-car quality. The marine habits of wintering grebes make close observation difficult. But bizarre life histories and intriguing behavior make Podiceps grebes appealing —once you get acquainted. Homed (in Europe known as Slavonia), Eared (i.e.. Black-necked), and Red-necked grebes share similar characteristics. Stubby wings, dense bodies, and rear-mounted feet make them more deft in water than on land or in flight. They breed mostly on shallow, weedy ponds well to the north. Sometimes isolated, sometimes colonial, their floating nests are attached to vegetation. During fall migration, grebes group at staging areas, then disperse to winter on lakes and sea coasts. Their opportunistic diet comprises invertebrates and fish, the latter more important in winter. All these grebes display considerable variability in appearance and behavior. But each species shapes this basic pattern into a unique form. The species of most interest to Massachusetts birders is the Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis). Many readers no doubt enjoyed the very active Eared Grebe on Cape Ann during Febmary 1994. Birders who missed the show should not despair: this species is a rare but nearly annual visitor with about thirty state records (Veit and Petersen 1993). Reasonably, but without explanation, Harrison (1985) ascribes east-coast Eared Grebes to the North American subspecies (one of four worldwide), P.
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Beached Bird Guide for Northern Lake Michigan
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BREEDING of the LITTLE GREBE by G
THE S.A. ORNITHOLOGIST 109 BREEDING OF THE LITTLE GREBE By G. CLARKE. The following is a brief synopsis of events, continuously an agitated 'clip' or 'jip', a not altogether complete, of the breeding of single note. The nest was found to be a pair of Little Grebe (Podiceps nouaehol placed between a few sapling eucalypts 2 landiae) on the main dam at the Para Wirra to 3 feet in height, standing in the water, National Park, 20 miles NNE of Adelaide and was composed mainly of rush stems in the Mt. Lofty Ranges. (funcus) 'anchored' between the. saplings and The dam occupies an area of some two resembling a pile of. debris. The nest con and a half acres, and is situated at an tained three eggs, stained an ochrous yellow. altitude of approximately 900 ft. a.s.l, in November 20: Both adults with two young Savannah Woodland, comprised mainly of noted. Water level 8 inches below the spill the Blue Gum, Eucalyptus leucoxylon. The way wall. dam wall is formed by an earth bank and November 23: Two adults; the young as it has been placed across a creekbed the were not seen. resultant shape of the dam is a long narrow December 1: Both adults were noted carry triangle with one small inlet on its northern ing material to a new nest site. Only one side formed by a second, smaller creek. The young bird seen. W.L. 12 inches below walL depth of the water at the deepest point is approximately 8 to 10 feet, and the appro December 12: One bird sitting on the priate levels below the spillway wall are second nest, leaving only when approached given.
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An Avian Quadrate from the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation of Wyoming
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