Eared Grebes, Podiceps nigricollis, are small water birds with a distinctive bright, red eye that gather in large flocks at the Great Salt Lake in Utah, Salton Sea, or Mono Lake in California during the fall. Here, the most abundant grebes in the world enjoy a bounty of brine shrimp, alkali flies, and aquatic invertebrates before migrating to their winter home in the islands in the Gulf of California. Breeding takes place in the wetlands of western North America.
Fun Fact: While fattening up in the fall, the Eared Grebes’ pectoral muscles and hearts shrink rendering them flightless while their digestive organs grow to accommodate enough food to double the Grebe’s size. Before it’s time to migrate, the process reverses, and the grebes will begin their nocturnal journey to their wintering grounds.
Photo Credit: Lynn Marie