[birdky] Re: Rare Bird Alert: Eared Grebe

Hey Birders,
Can you please explain which field markings or perhaps behaviors I need to focus on to differentiate a horned grebe from an eared grebe in late winter/early spring?
Maybe I need to pay more attention to whether or not the grebe has brown feathers in between the eyes and beak?
To me it looks like an eared grebe because the crescent-like white pattern on the side of the head is thin, but it didnt occur to me until now that the white patch on the head of horned grebes gets smaller in size while in the middle of a transition from white winter feathers to black breeding plumage. Oops! The brown feathers on the sides of the head look disheveled rather than in a crest-like formation and I did not see any brown on the bird's neck, so that is why I thought it was an eared grebe.
The grebe is still here as of Thursday evening if anyone else still is interested. We will look at it tomorrow evening and or Saturday morning again to try to figure out how we can accurately identify it.
I've never seen a grebe species in such a nearby urban/suburban location. The pied-billed grebes I've seen tend to be in more remote locations (Muscatatuck NWR) and are shy compared to this bird, which swam close to us several times, almost as if it was curious about us or instead was too engrosed in hunting fish to mind us. 

Thanks so much.

Christina



From: "Christina W" <hiker80@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: hiker80@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: lhays2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [birdky] Re: Rare Bird Alert: Eared Grebe
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 03:33:24 +0000

Lana,
The eared grebe is at Woodbridge Apartments, which is in the east end of Louisville Metro at 40242 zip code, near Oxmoor Mall and U of L Shelby Campus in between two major roads, New LaGrange Rd. and Shelbyville Rd. I think the county is Jefferson county, and it is near St. Matthews, Lyndon, and Middletown.
Woodbridge Apartments, located on Ormsby Lane ( I mistakenly called the road Ormsby Station Rd in the previous e-mail. Sorry about the confusion.), has a map at this website: 
http://www.moveitonup.com/states_kentucky.asp#

Christina



From: Lana Hays <lhays2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: hiker80@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [birdky] Rare Bird Alert: Eared Grebe
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 20:25:49 -0400

Christina
Your grebe sounds fascinating and if he'd stick around until the weekend I'd like to take a look. Just one question.......what city/ county is it located in? 

Thanks,
Lana Hays
On Mar 21, 2007, at 8:14 PM, Christina W wrote:


Hello,
I just wanted to let everyone know about a definitively identified eared grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) that is still today (March 21, 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM) at the Woodbridge Apartments small lake off of Ormsby Lane, which is off of New LaGrange Rd. This tiny energetic fast swimming and diving inquisitive bird has been here since at least evening of Saturday, March 17th.
This eared grebe was observed at dusk today playfully dunking goose feathers in water repeatedly. Much later this evening, the bird tried unsuccessfully to swallow a blue gill fish that was too big for its crop. This bird is not shy and stays in the lake, so it should be easy to identify if you can catch it long enough on the surface. On average, it stay under water at least 16 seconds, and resurfaces at different locations. Plumage is a mix of winter plumage (at front neck, behind ear hole, and white lower side feathers) and breeding adult plumage (brown/golden feathers covering ear hole, and brown lower side feathers). The bird has a dark gray beak that differentiates it from Western and Clark's grebes, and bright crimson red eyes that distinguishes it from red- necked grebe. Golden brown feathers covering ear hole are great field marks, too. According to my National Geographic Field Guide, it is "rare in Eastern North America," and its present location may be just a tiny bit north of "its irregular or irruptive range in some winters" (dotted blue lines on map).
If you do decide to check out this eared grebe, beware of a particularly aggressive Canadian goose with possible partial albinism (at front of head in between beak and eyes, and also lighter than normal feathers on neck), and its normal Canadian goose partner. I have never seen a Canadian goose before with such markings. Could this bird be a hybrid of wild and domesticated Canadian goose? It is rather overweight, so I think this is at least a possibility. 

Take Care,

Christina Wiegand

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Lana Hays
www.lanahays.com





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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Kentucky Ornithological Society 
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison, Richmond, KY 
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================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBERS==============
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-------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send e-mail to: birdky-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject line. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Kentucky Ornithological Society 
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison, Richmond, KY 
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