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Family Podicipedidae

Pied-billed Grebe

Status Uncommon in summer, rare in winter. Breeds. It occurs throughout the province, generally arriving in April (average 16 April, earliest 31 March); a bird on 10 March 1974 may have overwintered. The main autumn migration occurs from late September through mid- October, but stragglers are regularly seen on Christmas Bird Counts and occasionally later in winter; there are four February reports, the latest up to 17 February on Sullivans Pond, Dartmouth.

Description Length: 30-37 cm. Adults in summer: Bill stout and chicken-like, with a black band around it. Upperparts blackish brown, throat black, sides of head and neck gray. Underparts silvery gray, dusky and barred on the sides. Adults in winter and immatures: Similar to adults in summer but the black throat patch and black band on the bill are lacking. Juveniles have heads streaked with whitish gray and throats streaked with brown. All grebes are practically without tails.

Breeding Nest: Usually placed on a bulky mass of decayed vegetable matter floating but anchored in shallow water amid or near aquatic vegetation. Eggs: 4-9; dull white, sometimes tinged with blue or green and often badly discoloured by nest stains. A clutch at Springville, Pictou County, contained four eggs on 4 June 1968 but was believed to be incomplete (H. Brennan). A nest near Brooklyn, Hants County, was seen by Charles R.K. Allen on 6 June 1965. It was floating near the shore of a weedy pond and was not examined for contents; the bird was sitting on the nest. At Falls Lake, Hants County, on 8 July 1940, H.H. Reid saw an adult with four chicks, two riding on their parent's back. W. Earl Godfrey observed an adult feeding a young bird on 19 July 1954 at Grande Anse, Richmond County.

Range Breeds across southern Canada, the United States, the West Indies and Central and South America. Winters from the central and southern United States southward, and on the Pacific coast north to southern British Columbia.

Remarks Look for this grebe on shallow fresh-water ponds margined with lush aquatic plant growth which provides food and shelter for the bird and its young. It is secretive, showing great aptitude for keeping out of sight, particularly during nesting season.

It has a number of calls, its most common being a loud cow-cow-cow-cow-cow-uh cow-uh. When in flight, having no tail worthy of the name, its legs trail behind as rudders for steering its course.

During the early twentieth century the dictates of hat fashion created a heavy demand for the breast feathers of grebes. Eventually the federal government, under pressure from bird-lovers, outlawed the commercial use of all wild-bird feathers, probably saving the grebes from premature extinction.