FOAM LAKE BIRDING
No. 156
With the
plentiful rains these past several summers our sloughs are full and many have
not dried out by the late summer. These
conditions are ideal for water birds that require permanent bodies of water
during the breeding and rearing season.
One group
of such birds are the grebes. They are
entirely aquatic birds whose legs are set so far back that walking on land is very
difficult and in two cases, impossible. Even
their nests are floating platforms that are anchored to rushes to prevent their
floating away. Although much of what
will be said here was mentioned in a previous article a recap is probably in
order.
There are
several characteristics that separate grebes from other waterfowl like ducks,
coots and loons. First, although the
birds are entirely aquatic their feet are not webbed but lobed like that of
coots. Second, all young are striped
longitudinally in black and white. They
remind me of little zebras. Third, the
young often ride on their mother's backs.
Fourth, the young cannot feed themselves so both parents actively feed
their young like song birds do. Fifth,
grebes are divers and usually catch their prey like minnows under water. Sixth, their bills are sharply pointed except
for the Pied Billed Grebe (see Article No. 53).
Several other species of birds share one or several of the above
characteristics but not all of them.
Our second
largest grebe, the Red Necked, is quite common locally on larger sloughs and
lakes. This teal sized diver is greyish
with a chestnut red neck and striking white face topped off with a black cap
and slight crest. The white face is more
noticeable than the red neck and perhaps the bird should have been called the
"White Faced Grebe". Just a
thought. Males and females are the
same.
This week's
photos were taken at two different times in two different places. The lone grebe was photographed north of
Humboldt; the mother with the two young were photographed by Tuffnell. The picture of the mother and young is not as
clear as I would have liked but it does show the colours of the swimming
youngster. If one looks closely another
youngster can be seen riding on the mother's back. The young certainly are cute.
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