Clark's Grebe
Aechmophorus clarkii
Clark's Grebe · San Diego · 6 March 2026
A Clark's Grebe on a lake in San Diego, wintering on the coast after a summer on the marshy lakes of the interior West. Grebes are so specialised for diving that they can barely walk - the legs are set right at the back of the body, superb for propulsion and useless on land - and they build floating nests for that reason, and carry their young on their backs.
Told from the near-identical Western Grebe by two things visible here: the black cap stops above the red eye rather than swallowing it, and the bill is bright orange rather than dull yellow-green. The two were treated as one species until 1985.
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