Pied-billed Grebe

Podilymbus podicepsOrder: PODICIPEDIFORMESFamily: Grebes (Podicipedidae)
Pied-billed Grebe Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: All-purpose
  • Eye color: Brown iris
  • Head Pattern: Eyering (complete or broken)
  • Crown color: Tan, Brown
  • Forehead color: Black
  • Nape Color: Dark gray-brown
  • Throat color: Black
  • Cere color:
Pied-billed Grebe Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 30-38 cm (12-15 in)
  • Weight: 442 g (15.6 oz)
  • Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color: White, Brown, Gray
  • Underparts: Pale gray-brown
  • Upperparts: Dark gray-brown
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Pied-billed Grebe Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 57 cm (22.5 in)
  • Wing Shape: Tapered-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Rounded Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Dark gray-brown
  • Under Tail: White
  • Leg color: Brown
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Family Grebe (Podicipedidae)_blue
Species Podilymbus podiceps
Length12 - 15 Inches
Wingspan22.5 Inches

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe: Medium-sized, stocky grebe with brown upperparts, paler brown underparts with barred sides and flanks, and distinct white undertail coverts. Chin is black and bill is white with central black ring. Eyes are dark. Feeds on aquatic insects and vegetation, small fish and crustaceans.

● Song: "cow-cow-cow-cow, cow, cow, cowp, cowp, cowp"

● Foraging & Feeding: Pied-billed Grebe: Eats aquatic vegetation, insects, fish, and crustaceans; forages by diving from the surface and swimming underwater.

● Breeding & nesting: Pied-billed Grebe: Two to ten light blue eggs are laid in a well-hidden floating nest made of dead marsh vegetation anchored to emergent plants. Incubation ranges from 23 to 27 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Pied-billed Grebe: Least Grebe is smaller and has yellow eyes and slender, dark bill.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Pied-billed Grebe Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Pie-billed Grebe: Breeds from British Columbia, southern Mackenzie, and Nova Scotia southward. Spends winters in the southern states or wherever water remains open. Preferred habitats include marshes and ponds.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationVery common
MigrationSome migrate
Weight15.6 Ounces