(Credit: U. S. Geological Survey)

Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps

Identification Tips:

  1. Length: 9 inches
  2. Sexes similar
  3. Small, stocky-bodied grebe with a short, thick bill
  4. Brown plumage, darker on the crown and back
  5. White undertail coverts
  6. Feet set far back on body and trail awkwardly behind body in flight

Adult alternate:

  1. Black ring around horn-colored bill
  2. Whitish throat

Adult basic:

  1. Horn-colored bill without black ring
  2. Brown throat

Juvenile:

  1. Black and white striping about head

Similar Species:

All other grebes have thinner bills and quite different plumage.