Bird name:

Horned Grebe

Podiceps auritus

Order

PODICIPEDIFORMES

Family

Grebes (Podicipedidae)

Code 4

HOGR

Code 6

PODAUR

ITIS

174482

Breeding Location:

Lakes, Seashore, rocky or sandy, Streams, upland, Rivers

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Pale green, nest stained

Number of Eggs:

3 - 7

Incubation Days:

22 - 25

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Floating heap of wet plant material.

Migration:

Migratory

RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS

General

Horned Grebe: Small grebe with red-brown neck, breast and flanks, and nearly black throat and back. Head has black cap, white face, and conspicuous buff-orange to yellow ear plumes. Bill is dark with white tip and eyes are dark red. Sexes are similar. Winter adult has white cheeks, throat and breast, and dark crown, nape and back.

Range and Habitat

Horned Grebe: Breeds from Alaska and northern Canada south to Washington and Oregon, the Dakotas, and the northern Great Lakes. Spends winters in the Aleutians and the south along the Pacific coast to southern California, and along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to Texas. During the breeding season, may be found predominantly on prairie and boreal freshwater lakes with both open waters and marsh vegetation; also nests in marshes, small sloughs with weedy margins, ponds, and occasionally on rivers.

Breeding and Nesting

Horned Grebe: Three to seven pale green eggs are laid on a floating nest made of vegetation anchored to emergent plants. Incubation ranges from 22 and 25 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Horned Grebe: Diet consists mainly of insects, crustaceans, and small fish; also eats leeches, tadpoles, salamanders, mollusks, plant materials, and feathers; forages by diving from the surface.

Vocalization

Horned Grebe: Makes a variety of croaks, shrieks, and chatters on breeding grounds.

Similar Species

Horned Grebe: Eared Grebe has black neck; in winter, has dark cheeks. Western and Clark's grebes are larger with longer, more slender necks and yellow on bills.

Percevia^® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Percevia field guides, database and search protocol patent pending.

The best bird guide and bird watching search engine to identify birds!

Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Cap

The area on top of the head of the bird.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Face

The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.

Nape

Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.

Plumes

Large, conspicuous, showy feathers.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America