Well I dug some more on the flightless period. It seems their are cycles, and
its not a continuous 9-10 months, as seen here from the Cornell site all about
the birds.
At its fall staging areas, the Eared Grebe more than doubles its weight. The
pectoral (chest) muscles shrink to the point of flightlessness, the digestive
organs grow significantly, and great fat deposits accumulate. Then before
departure for migration, the digestive organs shrink back to about one-fourth
their peak size and the heart and pectoral muscles grow quickly.
A cycle similar to that of the fall staging areas occurs three to six times
each year for the Eared Grebe. For perhaps nine to ten months each year the
species is flightless; this is the longest flightless period of any bird in the
world capable of flight at all.
Still pretty cool info
Mike Sanders
On Apr 9, 2015, at 2:19 PM, Michael Sanders <hawk036@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I went to South Holston Lake this morning. I was able to relocate the Eared
Grebe from the other day, I am not sure that this fellow can fly yet as I
read in my digital field guide iBird Pro that they are "For perhaps 9 to 10
months each year this species is flightless; this is the longest flightless
period of any bird in the world capable of flight at all.” And the fact that
it never flew while I was photographing it, I was able to get the boat within
15 ft of it and it would dive occasionally but never took flight. Wow, so if
this is true it makes one wonder how long this species is actually on South
Holston Lake each year. If they arrive in early winter, lets say November,
that still puts them here well into early summer. Any way just some info I
read. I was able to get a few photos of it and 2 separate Ospreys I found
today. The link is http://www.msandersphotography.com/grebe
<http://www.msandersphotography.com/grebe> for those interested. I also saw
several Common Loons in breeding plumage, an Adult Bald Eagle, Bonaparte and
Ring-billed Gulls. Very nice day to be out birding..
Mike Sanders
Bristol, VA
