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If you ever find yourself lurking around a marsh, and hear something that sound like it belongs in the jungles of Africa, chances are it is a pied-billed grebe. This tiny waterbird creates a big sound; an accelerating, descending series of low, throaty clucks that is quite distinctive. Pied-billed grebes are talkers, too, and their vocalizations are a common part of the sounds of the marsh.
Listen
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Pied-billed Grebe
Podilymbus podiceps
At-a-Glance
• Incubation: 23-27 days
• Clutch Size: 3-10 eggs
• Typical foods: aquatic arthropods, fish, and crustaceans
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Description
The pied-billed grebe is smaller than a teal. Its body is buff colored and its bill has dark band on it. Its rump is white.
Habitat and Habits
This grebe occurs throughout the state where wetlands have substantial open water. Easily our most common grebe, ths species breeds in the larger wetland complexes, and is a common migrant.
Reproduction and Care of the Young
Pied-billed grebe nests are normally floating structures placed in marsh vegetation or anchored to logs, dead trees, and isolated marshy islets. Nest construction generally begins in April and the young hatch during May and June. The young grebes are precocial and can swim right after hatching. They may become independent by mid-July. |
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