January 2024
Bird of the Month

by Carolyn Preston

Pied-Billed Grebe

Part bird, part submarine, the Pied-billed Grebe is common across much of North America.  They are small, about 11-15 inches long and usually weigh under a pound.  These brown birds have unusually thick bills that turn silver and black in summer.  They are fairly poor fliers and typically stay on the water.  Their feet are located near their rear ends, which helps grebes propel themselves through water.  Lobed, not webbed, toes further assist with swimming.  On land, they walk awkwardly.

​

Pied-billed Grebes use their chunky bills to kill and eat large crustaceans along with a great variety of fish, amphibians, insects and other invertebrates.  They also eat large quantities of their own feathers, and feathers are sometimes fed to newly hatched chicks.  The ingested plumage appears to form a sieve-like plug that prevents hard, potentially harmful prey parts from passing into the intestine.  It also helps form indigestible items into pellets which they can regurgitate.

​

Pied-billed Grebes built their nests among tall vegetation in the water.  They create an open bowl nest on a platform of floating vegetation.  Both sexes help build the nest which is only 4-5 inches in diameter and about an inch deep.  They can have from 2-10 eggs, with an incubation period of 23-27 days.  Once hatched, the chicks are downy and active, the chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and climb onto the adults, where they stay during the first week of life.

​

When threatened, they escape danger by ‘crash-diving’ – plunging with head and tail raised above the belly, making a splash.  They can also dive headfirst, or simply sink quietly out of view.  They need a long running-flapping start to take off from water.  They are of low conservation concern.  The oldest Pies-billed Grebe on record was at least 4 years, 7 months old.