Eared Grebe

Podiceps nigricollis

Order PODICIPEDIFORMES - Family PODICIPEDIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The most abundant grebe in the world, the Eared Grebe breeds in shallow wetlands in western North America. It 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.

Cool Facts

• At its fall staging areas, the Eared Grebe more than doubles its weight. The pectoral (chest) muscles shrink to the point of flightlessness, the digestive organs grow significantly, and great fat deposits accumulate. Then before departure for migration, the digestive organs shrink back to about one-fourth their peak size and the heart and pectoral muscles grow quickly.
• A cycle similar to that of the fall staging areas occurs three to six times each year for the Eared Grebe. For perhaps nine to ten months each year the species is flightless; this is the longest flightless period of any bird in the world capable of flight at all.

• The Eared Grebe migrates only at night. Because of the length of its fall staging, its southward fall migration is the latest of any bird species in North America.

• On cold, sunny mornings, the Eared Grebe, like some other grebe species, 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.

Description

• Size: 30-35 cm (12-14 in)
• Wingspan: 52-55 cm (20-22 in)
• Weight: 200-735 g (7.06-25.95 ounces)

• Small waterbird.
• Thin, dark bill, often appearing tilted slightly upward.
• Red eyes.
• In summer, black with golden ear tufts.
• In winter, black, white, and gray, with white ear patch.

• Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Black head, neck, breast, and upperparts. Cinnamon flanks and white belly. Elongated yellow feathers extend back over ear area from behind eyes.
  Nonbreeding (Basic) Plumage: Crown, nape, and upperparts black; sides, flanks, and front of neck grayish. Chin and throat white, with some white extending up behind dark ear areas. Head appears rounded in silhouette. Rear end rather high off water.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Similar to winter adult, but more brownish on back and neck.

Similar Species

• Horned Grebe appears quite similar, especially in nonbreeding plumage, but shows clear border between black of crown and white of lower face rather than a more gradual transition between black and white. Front of neck is white, not gray. Rear end slopes to water instead of sticking up like that of Eared Grebe.

Sound

Various trills and whirrs accompany courtship displays. Alarm call is a single sharp chirp.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from central British Columbia and Alberta eastward to south-central Manitoba, and through the northern plains states and the Great Basin to northern Arizona. Also in southern Mexico, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Winter Range

Winters along the Pacific Coast from Puget Sound to the Gulf of California, and from the southwestern United States through Mexico. Also Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Habitat

Breeds in shallow lakes and ponds. In migration and in winter prefers salt water. Occurs in great numbers in super salty habitats, where fish are absent.

Food

Aquatic invertebrates, especially brine shrimp and brine flies.

Behavior

Foraging

Feeds at surface or by diving to the bottom. Researchers believe that the Eared Grebe uses its large, fleshy tongue much as baleen whales do, crushing prey against the palate and extruding water.

Courtship

Courtship includes various elaborate mutual displays by mates, including rising out of water with neck extended, and swimming upright in parallel.

Reproduction

Nest Type

An open bowl of aquatic plants, attached to reeds or other emergent vegetation.

Egg Description

Light blue, changing to whitish.

Clutch Size

Usually 1-4 eggs. Range: 1-8.

Condition at Hatching

Downy and capable of climbing, swimming, and eating within an hour after hatching.

Young

Parents brood young on their backs for the first week after hatching. Young are usually completely independent by 20 days after hatching.

Conservation Status

Abundant. May be increasing in some areas, but frequent mass deaths at the Salton Sea in California, a major staging and wintering area for the species, pose concern.

Other Names

Grèbe à cou noir (French)
Zambullidor orejudo (Spanish)
Black-necked Grebe (British English) (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Cullen, S. A., J. R. Jehl, Jr, and G. L. Nuechterlein. 1999. Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis). In The Birds of North America, No. 433 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.