Monday, April 21, 2008

Pied-billed Grebe


Even though I was all by myself when I saw this pond dwelling waterbird I had to smile back at it for it had an appearance of smiling at me. All other Grebe species have a pointed bill but the Pied-billed has a chicken like bill. The word 'pied' refers to two or more patches of colours and in this case the Pied-billed Grebe has a black patch or ring around its bill. I don't often see Grebes and when I have it has only been one solitary one at a time. The Pied-billed Grebe is the only grebe species commonly seen in the east.

4 comments:

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

These are one of my favorite birds! Could they be any cuter? I wish I could see them more often. These are really beautiful captures.

Anonymous said...

What an interesting bird - beautiful ruffled feathers. Nice smile too.

Mary said...

What a cute "smiling" bird....it has the appearance of a baby bird to me because of its fluffly look.

me ann my camera said...

sandpiper:
They are cute aren't they and I don't see them often either. You have a beautiful picture of one on your side panel on your blog!

april:
so you saw the smile too :-)

mary:
It does look like a baby and I wondered if was too so I looked it up in my field guide just to be sure it was an adult.