Species Name: Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps).

Length: 13.5 inches (34 cm).

Summary: A smallish non-descript duck-like bird seen on ponds, streams and lakes throughout most of North America.

Description:Small, brownish-tan, sits low on water. Beak is chicken-like, mostly pale, with dark ring in breeding period. Throat and chin dark in breeding plumage; chin is white in winter. Pale eye-ring on adults. Lobed feet and legs far back on body make it an excellent underwater swimmer. Juvenile birds have complex black-and-white striping on beak.

Range: Found throughout most of North America, absent only from Alaska and the northern parts of Canada. Breeding range extends from Canada to Mexico; winters from British Columbia and Long Island southward but absent in plains states in winter.

Behavior: Shy. Drives frequently; also submerges without diving by sinking, often to avoid observation, resurfacing far away or in cover of vegetation.

Odd Facts: Assumed to be a duck by many people, but not related to ducks. Note structure of legs, feed, beak, and feathers. Call sounds a lot like Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Related or Similar Species: Other grebes, including smallish Least, Horned, and Eared Grebes and larger Red-necked, Western, and Clarke's Grebes.

Identification: Size, shape, bill ring, and behavior make this an easy bird to identify in most cases. "The thick, blunt bill is distinctive even in winter, when it is dusky-colored and lacks the black band. This is the only grebe that does not show a white patch on the wing in flight and the brownest in general appearance. On water it ordinarily holds its tail high enough to reveal its white under tail coverts." - Richard Pough, Audubon Guides, All the Birds of Eastern and Central North America, 1946.

Advice on Finding and Photographing: Scan suitable habitat in season, paying attention to edges of ponds and streams with reeds or other vegetation. Since these birds can stay submerged for long periods don't immediately assume there are none on a pond - be patient until you have given sufficient time and studied the hiding places. Getting close is very difficult in most cases, so be prepared to spend a lot of time sitting quietly beside a pond once one has been located and hope that it will eventually surface close enough for photos.

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