Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE LOONS AND GREBES

Grebe Species

Ordinarily Grebes cannot be called gregarious, but frequently a few pairs build their nests close together. Thus Air. Henshaw found upward of a dozen nests of the American Eared Grebe in a pond in southern Colorado, while Mr. Goss found fully a hundred pairs of the same species nesting in a little cove of Como Lake, Wyoming, and Mr. Seebohm records the finding of a dozen nests of the European Dabchick in an immense reed-bed near Danzig, Germany.

After the full complement of eggs has been laid, the parent when leaving the nest, unless startled into leaving suddenly, carefully covers the eggs up with weeds and moss, entirely concealing them.

As they are otherwise left exposed it is thought by Mr. Seebohm that the object is not so much for the purpose of hiding them as to protect them against cold; other authorities, however, are strongly of the opinion that it is done purely for purposes of concealment against egg-eating birds, such as Gulls, which would undoubtedly be quick to observe the uncovered eggs. During the breeding season Grebes have a variety of loud”braying”notes, but at other times they are usually silent, and they have the singular habit, when not compelled to dive quickly, of sinking down gradually and backward into the water until they disappear entirely, not leaving a ripple on the surface.

They are also able to swim for an indefinite time with only the bill out of water, and the seemingly mysterious disappearance is often to be accounted for in this manner.

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