March, what a wonderful month. Glimpses of spring. Yet winter does not wish to let go. Many of our spring and summer birds will be returning. As well as many of our winter guests will be departing.
I want to introduce you to a fascinating little water bird that stays with us year around, quite common in our Wheat Ridge and front range waterways. This little one is called a Pied-Billed Grebe, Pied for the white beak, with black stripe. The Latin genus for Grebe is Podylimbus, meaning feet at the butt, which is very fitting for these birds. Their beak is short and stout for cracking open crustations. They are slightly bigger than a Robin. Tawny brown in color. Their large lobed feet make them excellent divers, and underwater hunters. They are solitary with exception of breeding season.
Since I wander a lot along the greenbelt I have learned where to look for them. Staying fairly consistent in location. Many avid birders have never seen one. Not because they aren’t there. They just don’t want to be seen. They have an extremely unique way of avoiding detection. They can regulate water absorption in their feathers, controlling buoyancy. The best description I’ve ever seen of these little ones is “they are half bird, half submarine”. If avoiding a perceived threat from above, they can submerge to where only the top half of their head is above water. I saw one doing this once, thinking it was a frog watching me. Then it reemerged after the threat had passed. If needing to scare away an intruder they can also do a crash dive, or attack from below. Much like a belly splash in a pool. Sending water two feet into the air.
Because their feet literally are at the butt, they are quite awkward on land, spending most of their lives in water. They are marginal in flight as well, flying short distances, and usually at night. Although one is documented traveling from California to Hawaii.
They nest on water as well. Building platforms of floating debris, and adding underwater vegetation to form a cup. Then securing the raft to plant life such as cattails. When the female begins to lay her eggs, the male will continue updating the nest platform. Usually 4 to 6 eggs will be laid. The young can swim at birth, but prefer Moms back for usually a week. The male will then alternate raft upkeep, with providing food. When the female has had enough of these little ones under her wings she will leave the nest and shake the little grebettes out of her feathers. Speaking of feathers they eat their own feathers, and feed feathers to the young. This helps prevent injury from fish bones, and other hard food parts by forming a plug in the stomach to trap the bones and aid in digestion and prevent these parts from entering the stomach. These parts along with the feathers will form into pellets much like an owl, to be regurgitated.
Lastly, they have a call more like a bullhorn. For such a tiny bird, they can be heard great distances. As often as I’ve seen them I had never heard one to until last fall. Its call has been compared to a cuckoo. I’ll try giving a description in print. “cow-cow-cow-cow-cow-cowp-cowp-cowp. Now you can practice this call at home.
There you go. Probably everything you never wanted to know about a Pied Billed Grebe. They aren’t as flashy as many other birds. But the unique characteristics and behaviors make it worthy of attention and admiration. They can be seen in slow placid water, and usually near marshy areas. Both of which we have plenty of in the western front range. Keeping an eye out for these little ones can add another exciting element to your next outdoor adventure.
Hope to meet you on the trail.
