Grebe population declining but still active

The wild bird population on Clear Lake draws wildlife photographers from around the country. There are literally hundreds of species of birds that call the lake home and one of the most popular is the Western Grebe. They come to Clear Lake to nest and raise their young.

Whereas Clear Lake has a fair population of one of the county's favorite birds it is nowhere what it was 15 years ago. Those days you would see thousands of Western and Clark Grebes. Normally May and June is when you will see hundreds of grebes on their nests. Grebes fly at night and few people have ever seen one actually fly. Every year thousands of grebes migrate to

Clear Lake. One reason Clear Lake is attractive is because of huge minnow population. Grebes feed almost exclusively on minnows and Clear Lake is the perfect lake for them. The lake also has an abundance of various types of aquatic weeds for them to build their nest out of.

Western grebes nest on floating weed mats and they will lay from 3-4 eggs. The young hatch in 24 days. The baby chicks leave the nest soon after being hatched and will ride on their mother's back until they are several weeks old. The mother grebe will talk to her young while they are still in the egg. She does this so the young will recognize he cluck and they can find their mother even in a flock of grebes,

They feed mostly on minnows, but they will also eat clams and crayfish. They are the ultimate fishermen. I have seen them chase down the small silverside minnows and pick them off one-by-one like popcorn.

Studies have shown that they capture most of their prey by stabbing them through the middle with their long sharp beaks. However, on smaller fish, such as the silverside minnow, they will grab them with their beak. Most of the time they swallow their food underwater. Scientists believe they do this because it prevents other grebes from stealing their food. However, it's common for a grebe to surface with a minnow in its mouth and offer it to its mate or to the chicks. The stomach of a Western grebe is lined with downy types of feathers that are formed into a ball. It is believed the purpose for the feathery ball is to prevent sharp fish bones from penetrating the stomach lining.

It is their mating dance that draws most of the attention from birdwatchers. The male approaches the female and does a series of dips with his head. She responds with like dips and then they ran across the surface of the water with their necks arched in perfect unison. Their final act is to dive exactly at the same time. This antic is called “rushing.”

Western grebes also perform what is called the “weed ceremony,” which occurs after the grebes have paired up and just before they start building nests. Both of the pair will dive and bring up weeds in their bills. They face each other and do a spiral dance and will offer the weeds to their mates.

Of course, just about everyone knows that the chicks ride on the mother's back, but how they climb up there is also unusual. The mother extends her foot as a platform for the chick to climb up on and then on to her back. I at first didn't believe that until one day I had the opportunity to observe a pair of chicks climb up on their mother's back several times over a period of about 30 minutes. Every time they used her foot as a platform.

With the limited hatch last year, a poor hatch this year could spell trouble for the species. There have been a number of bird organizations that have reported a sharp decline in the grebe populations around the world. There have been no theories on why this happening. It could be environmental causes or something else. Hopefully one of Clear Lake's favorite birds will make a rapid recovery.