THE MONTEREY COUNTY LIST
Annotated checklist and data resource
text © Don Roberson
photos copyrighted by photographer(s) credited
all photos taken in Monterey County, California
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
 
Pied-billed Grebe is a common year-round resident on freshwater ponds in Monterey County (MTY). Additional birds, migrants from the north or east, arrive in the fall and remain into spring. Some of these use protected salt-water bays and estuaries. This engaging small grebe, which often sinks submarine-like when approached too closely, has a very inclusive breeding season. It can nest any month of the year and although most tiny striped babies are seen in spring, sometimes they are present in fall or winter.
Many of the fall arrivals are in young birds in first-winter plumage (above left), typified by its overall plain brown pattern with fluffy white undertail coverts and the short but stocky chicken-like bill. Breeding-plumaged adults (above right) are grayer in tone with a black chin and throat, and a brighter pink bill with a black bar across it. Bill shape remains important at any age or plumage.
Photos © D. Roberson; above left 6 Oct 2004 Elkhorn Slough; above right 15 June 1999 Roberts Lake
Where to find a Pied-billed Grebe in MTY: This small grebe is very widespread inland and along the coast. Favored locales with easy public access are:
  • Roberts Lake and Laguna Grande in Seaside
  • Zmudowski State Beach pond north of Moss Landing 
  • Locke-Paddon pond on Reservation Road in Marina
There are winters when many more Pied-billed Grebes arrive than in other winters, and this may reflect the amount of water habitat available (i.e., fewer birds in 'dry' winters). Recent averages* for Christmas Bird Counts are 65 on the Monterey Peninsula and 140 at Moss Landing (but many of those are in adjacent Santa Cruz County as the CBC circle straddles the county line).
* = "recent averages" for Christmas Bird Counts are found by compiling the totals reported for last dozen counts, throwing out the high and low counts that may be biased by observer error or bad weather, and averaging the remaining ten counts.
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GREBE IN SEQUENCE
Horned Grebe

Use the following links to other portions of the MTY checklist:

Part 1: Waterfowl through Grebes
Part 2: Albatrosses through Frigatebirds
Part 3: Herons through Cranes
Part 4: Plovers through Sandpipers
Part 5: Jaegers through Alcids
Part 6: Doves through Woodpeckers
Part 7: Flycatchers through Larks
Part 8: Swallows through Pipits
Part 9: Waxwings through Warblers
Part 10: Tanagers through Sparrows
Part 11: Grosbeaks through Finches
or just the plain Checklist (no annotations)
Readers may use this material for their own private enjoyment, study, or research but none of the photos or text herein may be used commercially nor may they be reposted on other web sites without written permission. All material is copyrighted. The posting of photos and text on this private web site is not a submission to review organizations.

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Page created 29 Nov 2004