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DIVING BIRDS—Order Pygopodes
GREBES—Family Colymbidæ
WESTERN GREBE
1. Æchmophorus occidentalis. 25 to 29 inches.
All grebes have lobate-webbed feet, that is each toe has its individual
web, being joined to its fellow only for a short distance at the base.
This, the largest of our grebes, is frequently known as the “Swan Grebe”
because of its extremely long, thin neck. In summer the back of the neck
is black, but in winter it is gray like the back.
Notes.—Loud, quavering and cackling.
Nest.—A floating mass of decayed rushes, sometimes attached to upright
stalks. The 2 to 5 eggs are pale, bluish white, usually stained (2.40 ×
1.55). They breed in colonies.
Range.—Western North America, from the Dakotas and Manitoba to the
Pacific, and north to southern Alaska. Winters in the Pacific coast
states and Mexico.
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HOLBŒLL GREBE
2. Colymbus holbœlli. 19 inches.
This is next to the Western Grebe in size, both being much larger than
any of our others. In summer, they are very handsomely marked with a
reddish brown neck, silvery white cheeks and throat, and black crown and
crest, but in winter they take on the usual grebe dress of grayish above
and glossy white below. Because of their silky appearance and firm
texture, grebe breasts of all kinds have been extensively used in the
past to adorn hats of women, who were either heedless or ignorant of the
wholesale slaughter that was carried on that they might obtain them.
Nest.—Of decayed rushes like that of the last. Not in as large colonies;
more often single pairs will be found nesting with other varieties.
Their eggs average smaller than those of the last species (2.35 × 1.25).
Range.—North America, breeding most abundantly in the interior of
Canada, and to some extent in the Dakotas. Winters in the U. S., chiefly
on the coasts.
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HORNED GREBE
3. Colymbus auritus. 14 inches.
As is usual with grebes, summer brings a remarkable change in the dress
of these birds. The black, puffy head is adorned with a pair of buffy
white ear tufts and the foreneck is a rich chestnut color. In winter,
they are plain gray and white but the secondaries are always largely
white, as they are in the two preceding and the following species. The
grebe diet consists almost wholly of small fish, which they are very
expert at pursuing and catching under water. One that I kept in
captivity in a large tank, for a few weeks, would never miss catching
the shiners, upon which he was fed, at the first lightning-like dart of
his slender neck. They also eat quantities of shell fish, and I doubt if
they will refuse any kind of flesh, for they always have a keen
appetite.
Nest.—A slovenly built pile of vegetation floating in the “sloughs” of
western prairies. The 3 to 7 eggs are usually stained brownish yellow
(1.70 × 1.15).
Range.—Breeds from Northern Illinois and So. Dakota northward; winters
from northern U. S. to the Gulf of Mexico.
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AMERICAN EARED GREBE
4. Colymbus nigricollis californicus. 13 inches.
This is a western species rarely found east of the Mississippi. In
summer, it differs from the last in having the entire neck black; in
winter it can always be distinguished from the Horned Grebe by its
slightly upcurved bill, while the upper mandible of the last is convex.
In powers of swimming and diving, grebes are not surpassed by any of our
water birds. They dive at the flash of a gun and swim long distances
before coming to the surface; on this account they are often called
“devil divers.” They fly swiftly when once a-wing, but their concave
wings are so small that they have to patter over the water with their
feet in order to rise.
Nest.—They nest in colonies, often in the same sloughs with Horned and
Western Grebes, laying their eggs early in June. The 4 to 7 eggs are
dull white, usually stained brownish, and cannot be separated from those
of the last.
Range.—Western N. A., breeding from Texas to Manitoba and British
Columbia; winters in western U. S. and Mexico.
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LEAST OR ST. DOMINGO GREBE
5. Colymbus dominions brachypterus. 10 inches.
This is much smaller than any others of our grebes; in breeding plumage
it most nearly resembles the following species, but the bill is black
and sharply pointed. It has a black patch on the throat, and the crown
and back of the head are glossy blue black; in winter, the throat and
sides of the head are white.
Nest.—Not different from those of the other grebes. Only comparatively
few of them breed in the U. S. but they are common in Mexico and Central
America. Their eggs, when first laid, are a pale, chalky, greenish
white, but they soon become discolored and stained so that they are a
deep brownish, more so than any of the others; from 3 to 6 eggs is a
full complement (1.40 × .95).
Range.—Found in the United States, only in the Lower Rio Grande Valley
in Southern Texas, and southwards to northern South America.
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PIED-BILLED GREBE
6. Podilymbus podiceps. 13.5 inches.
In any plumage this species cannot be mistaken for others, because of
its stout compressed bill and brown iris; all the others have red eyes.
In summer the bill is whitish with a black band encircling it; the
throat is black; the eye encircled by a whitish ring; the breast and
sides are brownish-gray. In winter they are brownish-black above and
dull white below, with the breast and sides washed with brown. Young
birds have more or less distinct whitish stripes on the head.
Notes.—A loud, ringing “kow-kow-kow-kow (repeated many times and ending
in) kow-uh, kow-uh.”
Nest.—Of decayed rushes floating in reed-grown ponds or edges of lakes.
The pile is slightly hollowed and, in this, the 5 to 8 eggs are laid;
the bottom of the nest is always wet and the eggs are often partly in
the water; they are usually covered with a wet mass when the bird is
away. Brownish-white (1.70 × 1.15).
Range.—Whole of N. A., breeding locally and usually in pairs or small
colonies.
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