![\"Pied-billed](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-5117.jpg\" "\\"Pied-billed")
<\/a><\/p>\nGrebe with young carp<\/em><\/p>\n Carp are the primary food for these birds in many of the ponds I frequent.\u00a0 Even young fish can make a huge mouthful for these very small grebes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0Swallowing a carp<\/em><\/p>\n I’ve seen it take several minutes for a grebe to finally work one of these huge (for them) fish down their throats.\u00a0 And I’ve yet to see one\u00a0give up on the meal because it’s too big.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0A slippery meal<\/em><\/p>\n Fish are slimy and slippery and sometimes get away from the grebe temporarily, though they always seem to\u00a0be recaptured.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 A potential thief in the background\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n These birds are very social so there’s nearly always other grebes close by\u00a0when one catches a meal and some of them will invariably try to steal the prize from its rightful owner. \u00a0This can make\u00a0for some very interesting but challenging encounters for the photographer because the action is usually so explosive.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This carp is too big to swallow quickly so the grebe with the fish is swimming speedily away from the other bird, which is following and waiting for an opportunity.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Escaping with the thief on its tail<\/em><\/p>\n This and…..\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Running with the prize<\/em><\/p>\n this is what nearly always happens in such cases.\u00a0 The grebe with the meal runs across the water at blazing speed in an effort to escape its tormentor.\u00a0 A very difficult shot to get for the photographer because it happens so fast.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Ganging up on the rightful owner<\/em><\/p>\n Sometimes several birds will attempt to steal the fish.\u00a0 I’ve yet to see one lose the fish to the thieves but I’m sure it happens occasionally.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Escaping onto the ice<\/em><\/p>\n This is obviously not a quality photo but I decided to include it here because it shows the lengths to which one of these grebes will go to maintain possession of its meal.\u00a0 Two other grebes tried to steal this fish and to escape them this bird actually hopped up onto the ice.\u00a0 This is very unusual – Pied-billed Grebes almost never leave the water.\u00a0 Their legs are placed so far back on their body that they are awkward on solid surfaces to the extreme.\u00a0 This grebe could barely walk on the ice but managed to down the fish and the thieves were reluctant to come up on the ice.\u00a0 Very amusing to watch!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0Grebe with tadpole<\/em><\/p>\n I’ve found these grebes to be opportunistic feeders, taking tadpoles…<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0Grebe with frog<\/em><\/p>\n and frogs.\u00a0 The markings on the face of this bird identify it as a juvenile.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0Attempting to dismember the frog<\/em><\/p>\n Twice I’ve seen a juvenile eat a frog.\u00a0 Each time the bird dismembered the prey by furious shaking.\u00a0 It doesn’t really look much larger than the fish I’ve seen them eat so I wondered if it was because of the bothersome limbs sticking out.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 Working on the frog<\/em><\/p>\n It probably took this grebe over 5 minutes to get the frog dismembered to the point the pieces could be swallowed.\u00a0 I remember thinking, half seriously, that it must have taken as much energy to “dissect” the frog as was gained from the meal.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n