Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Pied-Billed Grebe

By: Tom Berg

Have you ever seen a pied-billed grebe? Maybe a better question is: Have you ever heard of a pied-billed grebe? These relatively small aquatic birds are common throughout North America, but unless you spend some time around lakes, ponds and wetland marshes you might never see one.

Pied-billed grebes are the size of a small duck, and adults are an overall dark brown color. They have a bright white eye ring and almost no tail. During the breeding season, their thick bill (beak) is whitish-gray with a dark black band on it (i.e. “pied”). The black band on their beak is a dead giveaway for identifying them.

Grebes are considered to be waterfowl, but they are different than other waterfowl like ducks and geese because they do not have webbed feet. Instead, they have lobed toes which helps them walk on lily pads and other aquatic vegetation in the marshy areas they prefer. They are expert divers, and they are fast enough underwater to catch small fish with ease. Minnows and bluegills are two of their favorite snacks.

Pied-billed grebes are expert swimmers and divers, and one reason is the fact that they can quickly change their buoyancy by trapping water in their feathers. If they have a lot of water trapped in their feathers, they can actually sink – which helps them swim along the bottom as they hunt.

Although pied-billed grebes are mainly fish and crayfish eaters, they eat lots of other aquatic prey, too, like frogs, snails, mussels and aquatic insects, just to name a few. One of the weirdest things they eat is feathers – they eat lots of their own feathers! They do that because in their stomach, the feathers trap sharp (or hard) objects from the things they eat, like fish bones and spines. Then the feathers form small pellets which they can cough up like an owl pellet. Sometimes half of their stomach is filled with feathers!

Keep an eye out for pied-billed grebes this fall. They are very interesting to watch as they swim around and dive for tasty morsels under the surface of the water.

Have you had a great out experience? Join Global Outdoors and write a review to tell everyone about it! We’re building the home for trusted reviews of outdoor experiences, outfitters, and guides.