Photo Study Of Horned Grebes At Lake Nockamixon SP (Bucks County, PA), March 12th, 2011 And March 30th, 2011

    August Mirabella and I checked out Lake Nockamixon this morning after the Peace Valley Park Bird Walk. We saw lots of gulls, Common Mergansers, a couple of Eagles
    and some Turkey Vultures. But the bird of the day for us was the Horned Grebe (there were 21 of them, all adults in Winter plumage, feeding actively!)

Some Photos Of Horned Grebes Above In Winter Plumage At Lake Nockamixon Today   

Horned Grebe In Summer Plumage At Lake Nockamixon On July 13th, 2008

    The Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) is a member of the grebe family of water birds. It is 12–15 inches long with an 18–22 inch wingspan. Unmistakable in summer, the male's     plumage includes a black head with brown puffy earlike tufts along the sides of its face. It shows a deep red neck, scarlet eyes, and a small, straight black bill tipped with white.
    It rides high in the water. The Horned Grebe breeds in vegetated areas of freshwater lakes across Europe and Asia as well as remote inland parts of the United States and
    Canada. Most birds migrate in winter to the coast. During this time, this small grebe is mainly white with a sharply defined black cap. The Horned Grebe regularly eats some
    of its own feathers and its stomach usually contains a matted plug of them. This plug may function as a filter or may hold fish bones in the stomach until they can be digested.
    In summer, Horned Grebes feed mostly on insects and crustaceans which they catch under water. In winter, they eat fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and some insects.
    (Cornell BNA; Wikipedia; The Sibley Guide To Birds)

    For comparative purposes here are more photos of Horned and some other Grebes:

    
 Horned Grebe In Summer Plumage At Lake Nockamixon On July 13th, 2008

 Horned Grebe In Summer Plumage At Lake Nockamixon On July 14th, 2010

Pied-billed Grebe At Peace Valley Park September 2010

 Pied-billed Grebe At Brigantine April 18th, 2010

Eared Grebe At Brigantine September 16th, 2008

Pied-billed And Eared Grebes At Brigantine September 16th, 2008

Least Grebe At Mitchell Lake Audubon Center
San Antonio, Texas, March 2009

    To see a larger image of any of today's photos below, please click on either the thumbnails or the captions...thanks!

   I was able to photograph three different Horned Grebes again today (March 30^th, 2011) at the Fishing Pier in Nockamixon State Park. Please note that photos 16, 17 and 18
   show a Horned Grebe transitioning into Summer Plumage. All the other photos show Winter Plumage.To see a larger image of any of the birds, please click on either the
   thumbnails or the captions…thanks!

Revised March 30th, 2011

            Howard B. Eskin 2011       Please email your comments to hbeskin@voicenet.com      Please click here to go back to Bird Webpage Index