Western Grebe
Aechmophorus occidentalis
Western Grebes are large and slender with long necks and long, thin bills. Plumage is dark gray above and white below, with a clear color division. The top of the face is black, and the bottom white. The black extends below the eye in the Western Grebe. (In the closely related and similar-appearing Clark’s Grebe, the black ends above the eye.) The bill of the Western Grebe is yellowish to dull olive.
Western grebes can be found on large, open areas of freshwater or saltwater including marshes, reservoirs, bays and lakes. Summer populations extend as far north as southern central Canada, east to western Minnesota, west to Idaho and eastern Oregon and south to Nevada, Utah and Colorado. In winter, western grebes migrate to the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Baja California, with isolated winter populations found in western Texas and eastern New Mexico. Year round populations can be found in central California and Mexico, as well as along the California-Arizona border and in eastern New Mexico.
