Illustration from National Geographic's Field Guide to the Birds of North America
Western Grebe
Aechmophorus occidentalis
March 7, 1806, at Fort Clatsop, Oregon.
A large slender grebe with a long neck. Blackish above with black of cap extending below eyes; white below and on front of neck. Bill long, slender, and greenish yellow. Length: 22-29 in (56-74 cm).
A rolling kr-r-rick, kr-r-rick! sounded most often on breeding grounds.
Breeds on large lakes with tules or rushes; winters mainly on shallow coastal bays and estuaries.
Breeds from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Minnesota south to southern California; sparsely in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Winters along Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to California, on Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas, and on large river systems in West.
On their coastal wintering grounds these birds often fall victim to oil spills.
