April 28, 2013 - Horned Grebes

Over the last two weeks I made several trips to the Coon Rapids Dam, located in the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities metro area. It’s one of the few places that has open water so lots of waterfowl are gathering there, getting ready to migrate north. Here’s one of the more spectacular looking species, a Horned Grebe, in its breeding plumage. Both males and females look alike and they are fairly small, about 14 inches long.

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Here’s a Horned Grebe in non-breeding plumage. This photo was taken in Grand Marais, MN, during the month of September. What a change! It looks like a different species. The red eye is consistent, although it gets much brighter during breeding. The mottled gray and white feathers on the sides of the body are replaced with chestnut-colored feathers. Even the color of the bill has changed. But the most dramatic difference is in the feathers on the head.

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Here’s another view showing the black ruff of feathers that surround the head. The golden feathers behind the eye can be erected, as in this photo. That’s where the name Horned Grebe comes from.

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Horned Grebes are just passing through Minnesota on their way to breeding grounds, which are mostly in western Canada. This Grebe hasn’t quite finished molting; there are still a few grey feathers on the sides.

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During the winter, Horned Grebes move to the Atlantic coastline and to the southeastern United States. Here’s a view from the back of those amazing head feathers.

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This front view is pretty funny. The ruff makes it look like the bird has a huge black beard.

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