Pied-billed grebe Podilymbus podiceps

Identification Tips:

• Length: 9 inches
• Sexes similar
• Small, stocky-bodied grebe with a short, thick bill
• Brown plumage, darker on the crown and back
• White undertail coverts
• Feet set far back on body and trail awkwardly behind body in flight

Adult alternate:

• Black ring around horn-colored bill
• Whitish throat

Adult basic:

• Horn-colored bill without black ring
• Brown throat

Juvenile:

• Black and white striping about head

Similar Species:

All other grebes have thinner bills and quite different plumage.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.