What does a Horned Grebe look like?
Breeding adults are dark gray-black on the back with rich rusty-cinnamon sides and neck. The head is gray-black with long yellow tufts behind the eye. Nonbreeding birds are monochromatic: grayish above with white underparts. The head is capped in black with a sharp transition to white on the cheek.
How do you identify a grebe?
Measurements. Western Grebes are crisp black and white, with a sharp transition between black and white extending down the neck. The head and most of the face are black, with white below the eye. The bill is yellowish or greenish yellow and the eye is red at close range.
Why are Horned Grebe endangered?
Due to the current breeding population size and with continuing threats from habitat loss and water quality issues, in 2013, the status of the Horned Grebe was elevated to endangered.
What does a eared grebe look like?
Breeding birds are mostly black with chestnut flanks and golden plumes fanning out from behind the bright red eye. Nonbreeding birds are grayish black overall. The cheeks are smudgy gray and the dark crown extends down past the red eye. The neck is whitish.
Where are horned grebe?
A small diver found mostly on northern marshes in summer, coastal bays in winter. Also widespread in Eurasia, where it is called Slavonian Grebe. Similar to Eared Grebe, but much less gregarious, it seldom nests in colonies and seldom gathers in large flocks at other seasons.
How big is a horned grebe?
0.66 – 1.3 lbsHorned grebe / Mass
Is a Horned Grebe a duck?
The horned grebe or Slavonian grebe (Podiceps auritus) is a relatively small waterbird in the family Podicipedidae.
Where does the Horned Grebe live?
Where do eared grebes live?
Habitat. Eared Grebes breed in shallow lakes and ponds that typically lack fish. During migration in North America, they gather in large groups in saline waters in the Salton Sea, Great Salt Lake, and Mono Lake.
Are Grebes and loons related?
The grebes are a radically distinct group of birds as regards their anatomy. Accordingly, they were at first believed to be related to the loons, which are also foot-propelled diving birds, and both families were once classified together under the order Colymbiformes.
Is the Horned Grebe endangered?
Least Concern (Population decreasing)Horned grebe / Conservation status
What eats the Horned Grebe?
Grebes may be preyed upon by hawks, osprey, weasels, fishers and other predators.
Where do Horned Grebes go in the winter?
Some Horned Grebes winter on the Great Lakes but disperse during cold snaps in search of open (unfrozen) water. At breeding lakes, listen for their trilling calls traveling over the water on calm days. As in many grebe species, Horned Grebe frequently ride on their parents’ backs, nestled in between their wings.
What does a horned grebe bird look like?
Horned grebes can be easily recognised by its red-and-black alternate (breeding) plumage, its black-and-white basic (non-breeding) plumage, and its characteristic “horns”. It is 31–38 cm long, has a wingspan 55–74 cm wide and weighs 300–570 g. It has a moderately long neck, flat forehead and a rear crown of black feathers.
What does a horned grebe do when sleeping?
A sleeping or resting Horned Grebe puts its neck on its back with its head off to one side and facing forward. It keeps one foot tucked up under a wing and uses the other one to maneuver in the water. Having one foot up under a wing makes it float with one “high” side and one “low” side.
Why is the horned grebe endangered?
The Canadian western population is listed as being of special concern and the breeding population on Magdalene Islands is listed as endangered. Due to global declines, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has uplisted the horned grebe’s status from least concern to vulnerable, resulting in conservation and research action plans.