Western grebe
Western grebes are large, skinny black-and-white birds with sharp bills and snaky necks. They feed on fish, breed on inland lakes, and closely resemble Clark's grebes, which have more yellow-orange bills and some white above the eye (especially in breeding season). These photos show the western grebe's characteristic long black-and-white neck, red eye, and pointed bill (note the variation in bill length and thickness among these birds). In breeding plumage, the black cap is more starkly and cleanly delineated from he white cheeks, throat, and neck than in winter. The upper left picture was taken on Mission Bay in San Diego, California and the rest at Bolsa Chica, in Orange County, California, Santee Lakes in San Diego, California, or Palo Alto, California. The somewhat enigmatic bird at the bottom right of the page may be a Clark's-western hybrid: the bill is somewhat upturned as in Clark's, but is not the bright yellow-orange color typical of that species.
Some western grebe 'portraits' are on this page.
Images copyright by Mark A. Chappell
