“Rushing” Western Grebes

The ritualized displays and courtship ceremonies of Western Grebes are among the most complex known in the bird world.  One of them is called the “rushing ceremony” which includes 5 distinct phases – only one of which is actually referred to as “rushing”.  Yesterday I finally  was able to photograph this most dramatic part of the display and believe me it’s been a long time coming.

Mia and I were photographing a pair of these grebes with chicks and though we both were aware of another small group of grebes a little further away I was concentrating so intently on those chicks that I didn’t notice what Mia noticed – that the behavior of two of those birds had suddenly changed.  She said “they’re going to do something” so all I had time to do was quickly aim my lens at these birds and fire away.  Without Mia I’d have missed the entire sequence.

 

 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

 When rushing, the two birds (usually a mated pair but two males may also do it to attract females) lunge forward and rise completely out of the water.

 

 

 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

 As their legs and feet start to churn at incredible speeds their bodies begin to become more vertical…

 

 

 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

until the birds  are almost completely vertical to the water and their feet are slapping the surface so fast (16-20 steps per second) that the slapping and splashing noise is loud and can be heard a great distance away.  The wings are lifted but never extended.

The female is on the right – note her smaller size.  The bill of the female is also shorter and thinner than that of the male and it has a slightly upturned appearance.

 

 

 1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

Both birds run across the surface of the water in a choreographed manner for up to 65 feet before ending the display by diving head first into the water.  Neither bird makes any vocalization during the process.

I fired a burst of this behavior and got 17 shots of it but in many of them at least one of the birds was soft.  And of course my buffer had filled by the time the display was over so I missed them diving into the water.  But I have about a half-dozen more images of this behavior than I had before so I’m still delighted

Thanks Mia!

Ron