Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
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Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Breeding adult. Photo: Peter Knoot/Audubon Photography Awards
Eared Grebe
Podiceps nigricollis
| Conservation status | Populations generally stable, but vulnerable because large numbers depend on just a few major lakes at some seasons (such as Great Salt Lake, Mono Lake, Salton Sea). |
|---|---|
| Family | Grebes |
| Habitat | Prairie lakes, ponds; in winter, open lakes, salt bays. Favored nesting areas are lakes or large ponds with extensive marshy borders. Opportunistic, it may quickly occupy new or temporary habitats. During migration and winter, mainly on large freshwater or alkaline lakes. Also on coastal bays, but seen less often on ocean than Horned Grebe. |
Photo Gallery
Feeding Behavior
Forages by diving and swimming underwater, propelled by feet. Also takes many insects and other items from surface of water.
Eggs
Usually 3-5, rarely 1-6. Whitish at first, becoming nest-stained brown. Incubation (by both sexes) about 21 days. Young: Leave nest after last egg hatches, are tended and fed by both parents. Adults may separate, each taking part of brood. Young may ride on parents' backs when small. May be independent by 21 days after hatching; age at first flight not well known. One brood per year, rarely 2.
Young
Leave nest after last egg hatches, are tended and fed by both parents. Adults may separate, each taking part of brood. Young may ride on parents' backs when small. May be independent by 21 days after hatching; age at first flight not well known. One brood per year, rarely 2.
Diet
Mostly insects and crustaceans. Feeds on insects (such as aquatic beetles, dragonfly larvae, flies, mayflies), crustaceans, mollusks, tadpoles, a few small fish. During autumn stopover on large alkaline lakes, may feed mainly on brine shrimp. Young are fed mainly on insects. Like other grebes, sometimes eats feathers.
Nesting
Courtship displays are complex. Male and female may swim side by side while turning heads and calling loudly; also face each other while rearing up out of water and turning heads from side to side; at climax of display, pair may rear up to vertical position and rush across surface of water side by side. Nest: Built by both sexes, a floating platform of weeds, anchored to standing vegetation in shallow water.
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- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
Songs and Calls
On breeding grounds, frog-like cheeping notes.How Climate Change Will Reshape the Range of the Eared Grebe
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.
Zoom in to see how this species’s current range will shift, expand, and contract under increased global temperatures.
Climate Threats Near You
Climate threats facing the Eared Grebe
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
Eared Grebe In the News More News
Western Water News
Building a Positive Water Future: Western Water Highlights in 2019
By protecting water resources, Audubon worked to protect people and birds in the arid West.
Western Water News
U.S. Senate Introduces New Program to Assess and Monitor Saltwater Lake Ecosystems in the West
To better protect people and birds, Audubon science makes the case for the U.S. government’s first coordinated regional assessment of Great Basin saline lakes.
Western Water News
Dependence on Threatened Saline Lakes Leaves Eared Grebes at Risk
Nearly all Eared Grebes spend part of their flightless lives at Great Salt Lake or Mono Lake.
Eared Grebe Across Audubon
Saline Lakes
Saline lakes and their associated wetlands throughout Intermountain West create a network of critical habitat that millions of birds depend on for breeding, resting and feeding during migration, and wintering.
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is one of the most important places for birds in North America and is in danger of losing its ecological value. If it does, we will lose a vital part of the Pacific Flyway.
