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Horned Grebe

Status Fairly common transient, uncommon in winter, very rare in summer. Usually it does not appear until October (average 8 October, earliest 13 September), and considerable numbers may occur until year's end. Numbers somewhat diminish during winter, and a distinct spring migration occurs between mid-March and late April. Late birds are often seen into May (average 1 May, latest 15 May); two birds at Middle River, Victoria County, in July 1982 (H.E. Hopkins) and another at West Blanche, Shelburne County, on 18 June 1979 (P. Yankey) were unusual summer stragglers.

Description Length: 32-38 cm. Adults in summer: Head black with buffy orange tufts behind eyes; lower neck, chest and sides reddish. Upperparts brownish black. Wings have small white patch. Underparts silvery white. Adults in winter and immatures: Top of head, back of neck, and upperparts blackish gray; cheeks white. Underparts silvery white.

Range North America, Europe and Asia. In North America it breeds mainly from Alaska, the Mackenzie Delta, northern Manitoba and western Ontario, south to the north-central United States. Winters mainly on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States and southern Canada.

Remarks This grebe seems to be more gregarious than the larger Red-necked Grebe. It usually appears in small, scattered groups near the shore of a bay or inlet, but occasionally it is seen in much larger numbers in a more compact formation.

The diet of grebes is made up largely of small aquatic animal life; however, their stomachs almost invariably contain masses of grebe feathers, and parent birds have been seen feeding these feathers to their young, which swallow them avidly. This feather-eating remains unexplained, but appears essential to the grebes' well-being.