Western Grebe
Aechmophorus occidentalis · Waterfowl
Western Grebe
San Diego, 6 March 2026
A Western Grebe on a San Diego lake in March, on the same water as its near twin the Clark's. Both breed in colonies on the big marshy lakes of the interior West and winter on the Pacific coast, and the two were treated as one species until 1985.
The black cap reaching down to enclose the eye is the mark that separates it from the Clark's, along with a duller, greener bill. They still occasionally pair with each other, which is part of why they were lumped so long. Grebes eat their own feathers, deliberately, and feed them to their chicks - a lining for the stomach that traps fish bones until they can be dealt with.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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