Western Grebe Swallowing A Crayfish
When it comes to diet Western Grebes are fish specialists but they’re opportunistic enough to take a variety of prey, including crustaceans.
Category: Grebes
Great Horned Owl Eating Its Own Feather
I’ve spent a lot of time over the years watching owls – Great Horned, Burrowing and Short-eared especially and I’ve never seen one eating its own feathers.
Wing Flappin’ Pied-billed Grebe
I enjoy photographing birds doing wing-flaps, partly because you tend to get such a variety of poses in a short period of time.
Pied-billed Grebe Investigating A Potential Feather For Swallowing
I’ve posted previously about grebes swallowing feathers as a digestive aid. Yesterday I photographed a Pied-billed Grebe with that very intention.
An Aggressive Western Grebe (and a difference in water-running style among grebe species)
For such a large bird Western Grebes can really scoot over the water surface when the need arises.
Another Grebe Biting Off More Than It Can Chew
It isn’t unusual for some bird species to regularly attempt to swallow prey that is too large to go down the hatch. I see American White Pelicans and Great Blue Herons make such attempts fairly often but around here Pied-billed Grebes and Western Grebes seem to be the kings of Gluttony Hill.
Grebe Chicks Hitchin’ A Ride
There’s just something about back-brooding birds that appeals to the human eye and heart.
Grebes Eating Feathers (including two graphic images)
Pied-billed Grebe – An Entertaining Diving Technique
Pied-billed Grebes use several different diving techniques but the one called “gradual sinking” is certainly the most entertaining to watch.
Western Grebes “Rushing”
I’ve found the rushing behavior of Western Grebes to be one of the more difficult bird photography challenges of all. First of all you have to be there when it happens and I’ve only seen it a handful of times.
Western And Clark’s Grebes – A Comparison
Western Grebes and Clark’s Grebes are so similar in plumage patterns and behaviors that until 1985 they were considered to be color phases of the same species – the Western Grebe. In fact they’re similar enough that many observers never even recognize Clark’s Grebes when they see them and assume that they’re the more common Western Grebe.
Ratchet pointing, Dip-shaking Western Grebes
Two behaviors indicative of pair bonds between mated pairs of Western (or Clark’s) Grebes are “Ratchet pointing” and “Dip-shaking”. The behaviors are often alternated, one after the other. I photographed both of them as they were performed by a pair of Western Grebes three days ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Western Grebe Swallowing A Crayfish
Western Grebes are almost exclusively fish-eaters but yesterday morning at Bear River MBR I photographed one consuming a crayfish.
Western Grebe With Fish
Grebe Wing Flap (including a pose new to me)
I spend enough time with Pied-billed Grebes that it’s not often I see something new. Just over two weeks ago I did.
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Great Horned Owl Eating Its Own Feather
I’ve spent a lot of time over the years watching owls – Great Horned, Burrowing and Short-eared especially and I’ve never seen one eating its own feathers.
Wing Flappin’ Pied-billed Grebe
I enjoy photographing birds doing wing-flaps, partly because you tend to get such a variety of poses in a short period of time.
Pied-billed Grebe Investigating A Potential Feather For Swallowing
I’ve posted previously about grebes swallowing feathers as a digestive aid. Yesterday I photographed a Pied-billed Grebe with that very intention.
An Aggressive Western Grebe (and a difference in water-running style among grebe species)
For such a large bird Western Grebes can really scoot over the water surface when the need arises.
Another Grebe Biting Off More Than It Can Chew
It isn’t unusual for some bird species to regularly attempt to swallow prey that is too large to go down the hatch. I see American White Pelicans and Great Blue Herons make such attempts fairly often but around here Pied-billed Grebes and Western Grebes seem to be the kings of Gluttony Hill.
Grebe Chicks Hitchin’ A Ride
There’s just something about back-brooding birds that appeals to the human eye and heart.
Grebes Eating Feathers (including two graphic images)
Pied-billed Grebe – An Entertaining Diving Technique
Pied-billed Grebes use several different diving techniques but the one called “gradual sinking” is certainly the most entertaining to watch.
Western Grebes “Rushing”
I’ve found the rushing behavior of Western Grebes to be one of the more difficult bird photography challenges of all. First of all you have to be there when it happens and I’ve only seen it a handful of times.
Western And Clark’s Grebes – A Comparison
Western Grebes and Clark’s Grebes are so similar in plumage patterns and behaviors that until 1985 they were considered to be color phases of the same species – the Western Grebe. In fact they’re similar enough that many observers never even recognize Clark’s Grebes when they see them and assume that they’re the more common Western Grebe.
Ratchet pointing, Dip-shaking Western Grebes
Two behaviors indicative of pair bonds between mated pairs of Western (or Clark’s) Grebes are “Ratchet pointing” and “Dip-shaking”. The behaviors are often alternated, one after the other. I photographed both of them as they were performed by a pair of Western Grebes three days ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Western Grebe Swallowing A Crayfish
Western Grebes are almost exclusively fish-eaters but yesterday morning at Bear River MBR I photographed one consuming a crayfish.
Western Grebe With Fish
Grebe Wing Flap (including a pose new to me)
I spend enough time with Pied-billed Grebes that it’s not often I see something new. Just over two weeks ago I did.