Hoary-headed Grebe

Scientific Name: Poliocephalus poliocephalus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status.

Range / Habitat: Found on inland wetlands throughout Australia and in parts of New Zealand.

Field Notes: Small waterfowl with tufted rear, characteristic of grebes. Overall grey but head finely striped black and white. Australasian Grebe has rufous cheek patch and yellow behind bill.

Personal Notes: Photographed in Canberra, Australia.

Australasian Grebe

Scientific Name: Tachybaptus novaehollandiae

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found on inland, freshwater wetlands in most of Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and nearby Pacific islands.

Field Notes: Small waterfowl with tufted appearance to the rear, characteristic of grebes. Generally grey-brown overall, with head somewhat darker. Rufous cheek patch and yellow behind bill. Hoary-headed Grebe with thin black and white stripes on head.

Personal Notes: Photographed in Canberra, and then Chiltern, Australia.

New Zealand Grebe

Scientific Name: Poliocephalus rufopectus

Population Estimate: 1700 - 1800 individuals, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand. Found year round in sheltered parts of inland lakes and farm ponds on the North Island.

Field Notes: Small freshwater diving bird with distinctive grebe silhouette -- low to water, rounded read end, small pointy bill. This is a dark grebe with fine silver feathers on head and body, yellow eye, rusty neck and breast. Only similar bird in the range is Australasian Grebe, a rare bird in the far north, with a yellow patch of skin between eye and bill.

Personal Notes: Seen at Lake Tutira near Napier. Known as New Zealand Dabchick in New Zealand. Maori name Weweia.

Red-necked Grebe

Scientific Name: Podiceps Grisegena

Population Estimate: 200K - 300K

Range / Habitat: The two subspecies of the red-necked grebe have distinct ranges. The North American and east Asian subspecies, Podiceps grisegena holboelli, is found in western Canada and the northwest USA, as well as eastern Russia, northeast China and northern Japan. In North America, the red-necked grebe breeds in Alaska, Yukon Territory and the Northwest territories, east to southwest Quebec, and south to Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and southern Ontario.

Field Notes: The upperparts are dark brownish-black and the wings are dark, with two prominent white patches. In breeding plumage, the red-necked grebe has a black cap that extends below the eye, with a slight crest and a large, distinctive pale grey check patch that has whitish margins and extends upward to behind the eye. The front of the neck and the upper breast are deep chestnut, becoming paler on the belly, while the sides and flanks are greyish.

Personal Notes:

Clark's Grebe

Scientific Name: Aechmophorus clarkii

Population Estimate: 10K - 20K

Range / Habitat: Year-round in parts of Mexico and California. Migrant population breeds on inland lakes in the western US and winters further south along the Pacific coast.

Field Notes: Medium-sized water bird. Black cap and nape contrast with white face and throat. Dark body. Long yellow bill. Western Grebe is similar except the dark cap covers the eyes.

Personal Notes: It was a quite a joy to find these birds in Utah. Until the 1980s, this bird was thought to be a pale morph of Western Grebe. 

Horned Grebe

Scientific Name: Podiceps auritus

Population Estimate: 140K to 1.1M, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Summers in small freshwater areas, subarctic worldwide. In winter, mostly marine, in sheltered bays, throughout northern hemisphere.

Field Notes: Breeding plumage of both sexes unmistakable with large back head and yellow "horns behind the eye that can raise and lower. Winter plumage is black and white and easily confused with Black-necked Grebe.

Personal Notes: We often seen this bird during migration on midwestern lakes after a spring storm causes some grounding. Finally seen at one of the final spring destinations: Lake Myvatn in Iceland.  

Least Grebe

Scientific Name: Tachybaptus dominicus

Population Estimate: 14K to 140K

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Small, slaty grey grebe with prominent yellow eye. Seen in San Blas, Mexico. Also stumbled across a breeding pair with chick "on board" in CR.

Little Grebe

Scientific Name: Tachybaptus ruficollis

Population Estimate: Unclear, estimates at 610K to 3.5M

Range / Habitat: Tachybaptus ruficollis is a widespread breeder across much of western and central Europe,

Field Notes: The smallest of the grebes, Little Grebes have a very dumpy body, a short neck, tiny straight bill and no ornamental head feathers giving a rounded shape to the head. They swim buoyantly with feathers often fluffed out at rear giving a power- puff effect. In breeding adults the throat and cheeks are a bright chestnut, the fleshy gap patch takes on a pale color and the body becomes a rich dark brown above and paler below. Out of the breeding season birds are less striking with the neck taking on a buff-brown color and the body becoming dull brown above and paler below.

Personal Notes:

Pied-billed Grebe

Scientific Name: Podilymbus podiceps

Population Estimate: 120K, Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Year-round in shallow, slow-moving water in southern South America, Central America, and southern North America. In summer extending north in North Amerca throughout the middle US states and Canada. 

Field Notes: Small, brown diving waterfowl with a puffy rear end. In breeding season, stocky bill is silver encircled by a broad, black band. Sexes are similar in appearance. 

Personal Notes:

Great Crested Grebe

Scientific Name: Podiceps cristatus

Order: Podicipediformes

Population Estimate: 1M

Location (Date) of Sighting: Amsterdam (July 2009), Po River Delta Italy (November 2009)

Notes: Unmistakable diving waterfowl found on lakes and other bodies of water in Europe and Asia. This specimen was seen on the canals in Amsterdam. The young are also unmistakable with a zebra print on their head and neck.

Black-necked Grebe

Scientific Name: Podiceps nigricollis

Population Estimate: 4M

Range: Summers in northern Europe, northern and central Asia, east and south Africa, western North America. Winters in southern Europe, India and Mexico.

Field Notes: Small diving waterfowl frequently found in saline areas. Distinguished from other grebes by short neck and bill, and high rear-end profile in the water. Also has a red eye which can be seen from some distance. In breeding plumage has yellow feathers fanning out behind the eye. Can be confused with the Horned Grebe, especially in non-breeding plumage, though Eared Grebe has dusky cheeks while the Horned Grebe has a strong demarcation between black head and white cheeks.

Personal Notes: Most common grebe world-wide. Known as Black-necked Grebe in most of the world, but as Eared Grebe in the US. We took the top photo at Salton Sea, the bottom at Great Salt Lake.

Western Grebe

Scientific Name: Aechmophorus occidentalis

Population Estimate: 130K, Least Concern status

Range: Summers throughout most of western US and Canada. Year-round in portions of Mexico. Winters along the entire Pacific coast of North America. Favours brackish waters. Overall a similar but expanded range compared to Clark's Grebe.

Field Notes: Large, diving water bird with striking black and white coloring on the face and the long, elegant neck. Bill is straight, long and yellow. Clark's Grebe is similar but the dark cap does not cover the eye.

Personal Notes: We first discovered these birds via kayak on Union Bay in downtown Seattle. It was a thrill to later see a pair doing some mating mimicry in Utah.