Eared Grebe - Ross Feldner

This small waterbird is the most abundant grebe in the word and has distinctive glowing red eyes. They go from drab to fab during breeding season with golden plumes sprouting from their face.

Their breeding colonies number in the thousands in the shallow wetlands of the Western United States. Almost the entire population goes to Mono Lake, California to feast on brine shrimp, doubling their weight!

Like all migratory birds, Eared Grebes must accumulate body fat to sustain them during their long flights. They eat constantly in order to accomplish this weight gain and often double their body weight. Even their flight muscles increase in size while they “bulk up.”

Eared Grebes form large nesting colonies during breeding season. Within these colonies a mated pair will work together to build the nest, which is constructed from soft vegetation into a floating platform that’s anchored to underwater plants in shallow water.

The Eared Grebe catches prey by diving and swimming underwater, aided by its lobed feet - an adaptation shared by all grebes and coots that makes it highly maneuverable. Its diet consists primarily of  beetles, dragonfly larvae, flies, and mayflies, as well as small crustaceans, mollusks, tadpoles, and small fish.