A PB Grebe Behavior Explosion On The Farmington 4-Way Pond

These grebes are typically pretty lethargic this time of year but on this morning things went a little nuts for a few minutes.

The birds on the pond are mostly coots but there’s usually about a dozen Pied-billed Grebes mixed in. The three primary activities of the grebes are sleeping/resting, fishing and grooming, in that order. Often you have to wait quite a while to see them do much of anything except resting. But several weeks ago there was a burst of interesting behaviors from many of the grebes that lasted for several minutes that I wish I could fully understand or know the implications of.

All of these images are presented in the order they were taken.

 

pied-billed grebe 3935 ron dudley

1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

This is the bird that set it all off when it rose in the water and began to flap its wings. This isn’t unusual behavior in itself but as you’re about to see, what was unusual was how long it continued. By the time I was able to get my lens trained on the bird it had already been flapping for several seconds.

 

 

pied-billed grebe 3943 ron dudley

1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in 

In several of my images it looked like the silly bird only had one wing.

 

 

pied-billed grebe 3977 ron dudley

1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

I’m glad I had enough shutter speed to freeze those little buzz-saw wings.

 

 

pied-billed grebe 4012 ron dudley

1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in 

This is what I call my “they went that-a-way” shot.

 

 

pied-billed grebe 4014 ron dudley

1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in 

I’d estimate that the flapping behavior lasted at least 20 seconds (it made me tired to watch it…). Before the bird settled back down into the water I had filled my buffer several times (each time you have to wait for it to recover before continuing to shoot bursts). I took 78 shots of the bird as it flapped. But even when the grebe was through flapping its performance wasn’t over because…

 

 

pied-billed grebe 4023 ron dudley

1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in 

it didn’t pull its wings back in for a long time. It held this position for perhaps 10 seconds and the overall performance seemed to inspire a burst of activity from many of the other grebes on the pond.

 

 

pied-billed grebe 4045 ron dudley

1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

Suddenly several of them began running across the water for no apparent purpose. That behavior happens very fast and I never did capture one of them doing it but here you see that one of the grebes watched intently as another bird passed closely by (as evidenced by the water splashes).

 

 

pied-billed grebe 4056 ron dudley

1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

Then this bird began to hold its wings out just like the first grebe had.   

 

 

pied-billed grebe 4079 ron dudley

1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in 

Then another one followed suit.

 

 

pied-billed grebe 4156 ron dudley

1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in 

And another. Several other grebes did too, though in all the excitement I never got photos of them.

I can’t fully explain the intensity of what I saw that morning but Pied-billed Grebes have aggressive encounters among themselves throughout the year (not just during breeding season) and I believe that these behaviors were agonistic (associated with conflict or combat). I’ve often seen mini-versions of these behaviors but what surprised me this time was how long it lasted and how it contagiously and quickly spread throughout the group of grebes.

I’ll always be grateful to that first grebe. In the past I’ve never been able to get anywhere near that many nice, sharp shots of a flapping bird, no matter the species.

Good bird!

Ron

 

27 Comments

  1. Pied-billed flash mob?

  2. That was fun Ron. You had me laughing so hard, especially the “they all went that way” photo

  3. Showing the behavior, even if we don’t understand it, makes for much more interesting pictures of birds. Thanks for this interesting series.

  4. Probably some social media “wing flap challenge” that you happen to catch! 🙂
    I absolutely love Grebes! They seem to have such personality as this post suggests!

  5. Could it have been an aerobics class…….???

  6. Sorry to be late, lot going on!!
    Great shots of a bird we don’t see up close. Wonderful series Ron.
    Thanks for sharing.

  7. And the dance moves were followed by a rousing avian rendition of ‘Simon Says…’

  8. ‘You put your right wing in, you put your right wing out…’
    What an amazing sight to see, and hear that must have been.

    • Thanks a lot, EC. Now I’ll have that ear worm in my head for the rest of the day. That’s ok though, because I’ve had Johnny Tillotson’s “Poetry in Motion” in my head all morning. I’m ready for a change of tune…

  9. You were ready; the results are great; Kowabunga!

  10. I imagine just the noise of the flapping and splashing was amazing too.

  11. An outstanding series, Ron. Thank you for bringing it to us. I love how many words/phrases come to us through birds/bird behavior.

  12. “What’s the flap all about?”…Now we know who started that saying! A grebe!!! Who knew! Your camera must be incredibly fast to capture this kind of movement so clearly and with such sharp detail….

  13. What a wonderful series, Ron!! Your fingers must have been going a mile a minute!! It must be great fun to see this kind of activity – another reason for your love of birds!! I loved the “they went thata way comment and the photo fit!!

    • “Your fingers must have been going a mile a minute”

      They were, Jo Ann. And the sound of two shutters firing extended bursts sounded like an armed skirmish between armies.

  14. GREAT sequence, Ron. 🙂 The animal kingdom is always full of surprises. It’s a hoot when the Mergansers run on the water here which also makes them a challenge to photograph at times. Glad the one cooperated with the wing stretches and standing up for you.

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