Grèbe à bec bigarré— Quebec wildlife

The pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) is a species of the grebe family of water birds primarily found in ponds throughout the Americas.

Description

Pied-billed grebes are small, stocky, and short-necked. They are 31–38 cm (12–15 in) in length, with a wingspan of 45–62 cm (18–24 in) and weigh 253–568 g (8.9–20.0 oz). They are mainly brown, with a darker crown and back. Their brown color serves as camouflage in the marshes they live in. They do not have white visible under their wings when flying, like other grebes. Their undertail is white and they have a short, blunt chicken-like bill that is a light grey color, which in summer is encircled by a broad black band (hence the name). In the summer, its throat is black. There is no sexual dimorphism. Juveniles have black and white stripes and look more like winter adults. This grebe does not have webbed feet. Its toes have lobes that come out of the side of each toe. These lobes allow for easy paddling. When flying, the feet appear behind the body due to the feet's placement in the far back of the body. Because of the feet placement, they are not able to walk on land. These grebes may be confused with the least grebe, although that species is much smaller and has a thinner bill. Other similarly sized grebes are very distinct in plumage, i.e. the eared grebe and horned grebe. Both species bear much more colorful breeding plumage, with rufous sides, golden crests along the side of the head against contrasting slaty color (also a rufous neck in the horned); while in winter, both the eared and horned grebes are pied with slaty and cream color and have red eyes. Because of the pied-billed grebe's duck-like habits, some inexperienced observers may confuse it with a duck. However, pied-billed grebes have a very different bill shape (shorter, pointed at the tip, and flattened along the sides), as well as being shorter-necked and shorter-bodied than a duck. Also, unlike ducks, the closest living relatives of the grebe family are flamingos.