Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)

Description: The Western grebe has a similar body shape to a cormorant, but the grebe is black on the back half of its body and white on the front half. They have a long thin beak, males typically have larger beaks than females, and bright red eyes. Western grebes and Clark’s grebes are very closely related, have a near identical appearance, and often nest in adjacent colonies, making them difficult to differentiate.

Habitat: Western grebes breed on inland lakes and marshes across the Western US and spend winters on the Pacific Coast. One of their most notable breeding grounds is on Klamath Lake in Southern Oregon. At Haystack Rock, grebes are typically spotted offshore from fall to spring.

Nesting: Grebes build floating nests in areas of dense vegetation on lakes and marshes. They lay 2 to 4 eggs and both parents incubate for 24 days. As soon as the chicks hatch, they climb onto the back of the parents and are feed and cared for until the chicks fledge at 10 weeks. The chicks may hatch on different days, and some times the last to hatch is abandoned by the rest of the family.

Diet: Grebes dive to forage for for food, propelling themselves with their feet like cormorants and ducks. They primarily eat fish, but are also knows to eat crustaceans, worms, and insects.

Tide Pool Tidbits:

• Western grebes will occasionally swallow their own feathers, it is believed that they do this on purpose to protect the inner lining of their stomach from sharp things in their diet like fish bones.

• Grebe feathers were popular in the fashion industry in the late 1800s and early 1900s, causing them to be heavily hunted. The population has slowly recovered since then.

• The difference in bill size between male and females allows them to catch different types of prey and reduces competition for food.

Reference: The Cornell Lab, Audubon