These two birds duked it out for nearly three minutes.
Three days ago I posted a photo of a Pied-billed Grebe with a fish curled tightly around its bill and made the following statement in my introduction – “That morning at Farmington Bay WMA, whenever one of the many Pied-billed Grebes caught a fish there was a lot of competition for it from other grebes, and even from coots.”
It’s the “and even from coots” part that inspired today’s post, because it reminded me of another event that occurred that same morning on the same pond involving a different Pied-billed Grebe and an American Coot.
I published a blog post about that event back in December of 2015 and today’s post is a revision of that post. For this version I’ve added three more photos, edited the text and tweaked the formatting. The action was fast and furious and lasted a long time so some of these photos are decidedly soft, but they’re plenty good enough for documentary purposes. Hell, I was lucky to keep them in the frame, much less keep two skirmishing birds in focus.
All photos are presented in the order they were taken.
It all began when this Pied-billed Grebe caught a fish. The fish is large enough that the grebe couldn’t swallow it quickly, which allowed enough time for…
this coot to swim in and challenge the grebe for the fish. Coots are larger and slower than these grebes but this one was very deliberate and persistent in trying to steal the fish. The grebe would stop for a moment and make tentative attempts at swallowing the fish but the coot just kept on coming and coming and coming. The coot was relentless.
In the past I’ve often seen grebes with food dive or run across the water with it to escape a potential food thief but this one…
had a different strategy that I don’t fully understand. When the coot would get close, the grebe would release the dead fish into the water where it would begin to sink. I can guess several possible reasons for this strategy but that’s all they’d be, just guesses.
In this instance both birds lunged for the fish under the surface at the same time but…
it was the coot that came up with it, which…
the grebe was less than pleased about.
The coot attempted a get-a-way but the grebe stayed so close it was literally riding the back of the coot. When the grebe’s attempts didn’t work from this side…
it tried the other.
When the coot slowed, the grebe lunged for the fish but it was dropped into the water so…
the grebe lowered its body in the water and put its head under water to look for it. Here the grebe had just raised its head back up, sans fish.
I actually like this photo well enough to think it could easily serve as a standalone. With no explanation provided as to what’s going on, it’s just different enough to be interesting and more than a little mysterious. And both birds are sharp.
Here the grebe has pulled its head back before plunging it back underwater in another attempt to find the fish first.
The grebe had the advantage because it looked with its head underwater, but the coot only looked for the fish from the surface so…
it was the grebe that came up with the fish. The grebe tried to make its getaway but…
it didn’t get far before the coot caught up with it again, grabbed the fish…
and yanked it away.
But the grebe wasn’t about to throw in the towel. It swam tightly against the body of the coot and waited for another opportunity.
When that opportunity eventually came..
the grebe snatched the fish from the coot and made yet another get-a-way.
This time the grebe had enough time to quickly mash the head of the fish a few times.
Then the grebe paused for a moment, almost seeming to dare the coot to make another attempt on the fish before it was swallowed.
But the coot apparently knew it had been licked and didn’t even try before the grebe gobbled the fish down.
Some folks might be surprised to learn that coots will eat anything other than aquatic vascular plants and algae but they’re actually omnivorous and often consume aquatic invertebrates, tadpoles and fish. They even occasionally eat carrion, something I’ve seen them do several times in the midst of a harsh winter.
And speaking of winter, it’s snowing as I’m working on this post revision at 5 AM. More much-needed snow for our mountains and at least some in our valleys. We’ll take it.
Ron
Incredible interaction! And great capture of it all
Loved this post and the play-by-play commentary. Much more fun than watching sports on TV! Thanks for taking the time to craft this mini-documentary. It was enjoyed very much (including the happy ending). [No, I do not watch movies on the Lifetime channel.] LOL
Thanks very much, Karen.
Thanks for this great post! What fun it must have been to see it in action. Right to the end I was hoping the Pied-billed Grebe might prevail to keep its meal! How fun that it did swallow the fish before it was snatched away again. 🙂 But the Coot would have enjoyed a good meal if it had prevailed so good either way, of course.
Thank you, Kathy. No matter how it turned out, there was going to be a winner. The only sure-fire loser was the fish.
That was some great nature footage. I thought Old Coots just consumed vegetative matter not fish. Little hard to swallow that catfish with his pectoral fins protruding. Had to kill it first to get barbed fins to lay flat.
“I thought Old Coots just consumed vegetative matter”
Most of the time they do, Steven. But I’ve seen them eat fish a fair number of times and carrion a few times – including dead, decaying carp and one time, a store-bought chicken that someone had put out as eagle bait. But I’ve only seen them eat carrion during very harsh winters when food is at a premium.
I’ve observed fox squirrels eating dead fish in the winter at trout farms.
An absolutely amazing sequence – both photographically and biologically. Wow!
Much appreciated, Tony.
I think you did an amazing job keeping these three (grebe, coot, and fish) in frame and pretty darn sharp through the whole kerfuffle. Coots can be real a-holes, amiright? (Just like gulls.) 😂 As much as I LOVE American Coots, I’m definitely #teamgrebe on this one!
Yup, a-holes they can be, Marty. But a-holes can sure make for some interesting photo subjects. Thanks.
Yay for grebe to win back his prize — that was quite the battle (mostly of wits, fortunately) and like everyone else, I couldn’t help but root for him.
And yay for snow in the mountains! May this be a harbinger of an excellent water year to come for the west.
Thanks on both counts, Chris. We could sure use the water.
And the ‘good guy’ won. Rare in my experience.
I have been on the edge of my chair watching and thoroughly enjoyed this series.
And hooray for the necessary moisture you are receiving.
Thanks, EC. We didn’t get much snow down here in the valley but I suspect the mountains got a bunch.
Fantastic! How fun it must have been to have this drama played out for you to capture!
It was, Jo. It surely was.
Great series, Ron!
Thanks, April.
What an interesting series! Hooray for the persistence of the grebe. You can almost hear the play-by-play commentary, especially in the middle section as he’s maneuvering from all directions. Then that face-off with him low in the water, staring up at the coot! Do you think he was ever in danger of being held underwater by the coot? You’ve shown us some pretty serious fights between coots – does that same aggression transfer to others (besides trying to steal the fish)?
“Do you think he was ever in danger of being held underwater by the coot?”
I don’t think so, Ellen. This coot wasn’t nearly as aggressive as they are when they’re fighting other coots.
Very cool sequence, enjoyed every minute! Yay for the grebe!!
Thanks, S.
I was surprised about the coot being so interested in that fish. And… I have to admit… I’m pleased the grebe won. I think it is one of the cutest, most interesting birds around. That sinking thing! Thanks for a great series, Ron.
“I was surprised about the coot being so interested in that fish.
I doubt that you’re the only one, Ellen. Thanks.
Boy– that was a “fight to the finish”– I was cheering for the grebe
from the beginning, and was glad that you captured the big lump
in his neck as a parting shot ! There would be far fewer obese
humans in America if we had to fight for our nourishment like the
wild critters are most often required to do…….
“was glad that you captured the big lump in his neck as a parting shot”
Kris, I almost missed that shot because the grebe swallowed the fish much faster than I expected it to.
Very interesting and educational and remarkable patience on your part to never stray from this particular action. In the first couple shots showing the Coot winning I was thinking ok size wins, but then as the Grebe came back into the picture and grab the fish again I was thinking ok, speed and tenacity will win the battle, and of course eventually it did. Excellent series.
Thanks, Everett. These grebes are significantly faster than coots but the fish slowed the grebe down more than it did the larger coot, so the contest was pretty equally matched.
WOW! Quite the sequence of events with the Grebe coming out on top! Must have REALLY been hungry…… 🙂 Impressive how aggressive the Grebe was with the Coot given the size difference.
We got our obligatory sprinkle of rain last evening and a few snow flakes…. 🙁
Judy, these grebes are feisty little cusses. As Elephant’s Child would say, they often fight over their weight.
What a fascinating series of photographs. 2 pretty well-matched contenders for a single prize. And sense to know when the match was lost. Can we learn something here?!
“Can we learn something here?”
We could, Kate. But we probably won’t.
Wow! Great story, and well documented too.
I’m not joking when I say I was rooting for the Grebe, and a bit on the edge of my seat about the potential outcome. What relief when the Grebe won out! A happy ending.
Was that some sort of small catfish?
Thanks, Michael. I was also rooting for the grebe, only in part because ‘he’ was the one who caught the fish – its rightful owner.
I believe it looks like a small catfish but I don’t recall ever seeing catfish at Farmington before so I’m not sure. Most fish I see at Farmington are carp or weather loaches.