Help me identify this bird:
So I think this is an eared grebe but it's probably twice the size of any grebe that I have ever seen and has much longer bill. I looked at an identification guide and couldn't find anything that looked like it, except for eared grebe but this one looks way out of proportion, so much so that I'm thinking it's something else. Really mature male? I would compare it in size to a large mallard, almost loon-size. Sorry for the crappy pic. The camera was in macro mode all day.
Fishing the Great Beyond
Are these the ones that do the weird 'dance'? This the 'Western Grebe'? Two foot long and two foot wingspan? Where they wrap their necks together and run across the water?
It looks to me like a grebe. A member of the cormorant family. I can't tell the size of the bird from the pic, but it looks like a dead ringer to the birds we have on all the lakes around Spokane. They build floating mats as nests and dive for fish. Dad used to call them Fish Ducks.
I think it is a Western Grebe. They are fun to watch during their mating ritual. Here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Grebe.
Tim
Everybody's right...it's a Western Grebe... the birds that do the interesting mating dance and greeting. Here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GOWRK5ic7E
Last edited by Mato Kuwapi; 06-04-2008 at 01:04 PM.
"There's more B.S. in fly fishing than there is in a Kansas feedlot." Lefty Kreh
"Catch and Release,...like Corrections Canada" ~ Rick Mercer
Me Too!
I'll go for a grebe as well. 8T
Grebe for sure, but???
It is difficult to tell for sure, but could this be a Clark's grebe? It is very similar to the Western and often shares the same habitat. It is distinguished by less black plummage, especially on the head so that the eye is surrounded by white. It is best distinguished however by a bright yellow beak vs. the dusky yellow beak of the western. The Sibley Field Guide classifies the Clark's grebe as uncommon, however the range is very similar to the western.
western grebe
As it says in the link, THE EYES are a telling factor. The western grebe has a very distinctive RED eye. Can't tell from th pic the color of it's eyes.
And the eyes are a very noticable red on the ones around here.
Wyo-Blizzard
Oh, right, sure, Benjo. Blurry picture. Might be bigfoot, even. *S*
Clark's grebe: http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/k...arksgrebe1.jpg
western grebe: http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/k...terngrebe2.jpg
notice the position of the eye in relation to the white and black on the head.
eared grebe: http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/k...aredgrebe1.jpg
No doubt that is a Clark's Grebe, it was not listed in the guide I was using. Thanks.
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