Species

Pied-billed grebe

Podilymbus podiceps

A small brown diving bird that can sink slowly out of sight like a submarine.

Photo Dori (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab)

Parenting

At a glance

Size: About 31 to 38 cm long
Weight: About 250 to 570 g
Habitat: Ponds, lakes, marshes and slow rivers with vegetation
Diet: Fish, crayfish, insects and snails
In Georgia: Common in winter; a few breed
Voice: A loud, cuckoo-like "cuk-cuk-cuk-cow-cow-cow"
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: Small, brown, rounded diver; thick, chicken-like bill, with a black band in summer; no visible tail
Told apart from: Ducks, which have flat bills and swim higher
Told apart from: Horned grebe, which is black and white in winter with a thinner bill
Where to look: Ponds and marsh edges, diving often

Behaviour

Pied-billed grebes dive for prey and can control their buoyancy by squeezing air from their feathers, sinking slowly until only the head shows. They rarely fly by day.

Their chicks ride on their parents' backs, even when the parent dives.

Why they matter

These grebes eat crayfish and small fish in ponds and marshes, and they are one of the most widespread diving birds in the Americas. Their ability to live on small ponds makes them one of the waterbirds most people can see close to home.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A floating mat of plants anchored in marsh vegetation
Eggs — Usually four to seven
Incubation — About 23 days
Chicks — Striped; leave the nest soon after hatching and ride on the parents' backs
Flight — At about five weeks
Lifespan — A few years

Living around people

Grebes cannot take off from land; one on a road or car park needs help from a rehabilitator.
Fishing line and hooks are a hazard at ponds.

Misconceptions

Grebes are ducks. They have lobed toes and a pointed bill, and are not closely related to ducks.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Wintering on ponds	Wintering	Calling; pairs forming	Nesting in a few places	Chicks	Chicks	Young independent	Present in small numbers	Migrants arriving	Common	Common	Common

Where it lives

Recorded in 91 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

Canada

If you found one

Answer a few questions and you will get a specific answer for what you are looking at.

I found an animal