Since I ended up getting a nice photo of an Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) Sunday morning, I thought I would show it to you along with another type, the Pied-Billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps). An interesting thing about grebes is that they spend most of their time on the water. Because of lobes on their feet that help them to be better swimmers, they are rather ungainly trying to walk on land. They use floating nests among reeds and other growth. When preening, they eat their own feathers and feed them to their young.
Eared Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe - adult
Pied-billed Grebe - adult winter
Pied-billed Grebe - juvenile
Adult pied-bills can be identified by the dark band around the bill. Winter adults and juveniles do not have that band. Grebes are rarely seen in flight.
I hope you enjoy these photographs, and also those that you can see by clicking on the Flickr Logo on the right side of this page.
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 