![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/pied-billed-grebe-1991-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"pied-billed-grebe-1991-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nAt least when it comes to crayfish (crawdads).<\/p>\n
In my experience most birds that prey on crayfish swallow them whole but Pied-billed Grebes are an exception. Crayfish have 4 pairs of walking legs (the two anterior pair have small terminal pincers) and I pair of anterior appendages that have large terminal pincers (chelipeds) and all ten appendages stick out from the body. These grebes are just the right (wrong) size relative to the size of the crayfish to make swallowing them whole next to impossible when the appendages are still attached.<\/p>\n
Additionally, during the swallowing process the pincers could be dangerous, especially to the grebe’s eyes.<\/p>\n
So Pied-billed Grebes amputate the appendages before swallowing the rest of the crayfish. I find it to be a completely reliable behavior.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Last week at a local pond this adult Pied-billed Grebe caught a crayfish and immediately swam back to the relative safety of some nearby reeds to give ‘him’ some cover from thieving gulls while he performed his meal prep. In this photo we can see most of the appendages of the crayfish well enough to confirm that they’re still intact.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Here the grebe is grasping the upside-down crayfish by its tail. We can clearly see the four walking legs on the left side of the crayfish and the right cheliped. The left cheliped is in front of the crayfish and kind of hard to see but it’s there.<\/p>\n At this point the grebe turned uncooperative. He performed most of the amputations with his head underwater and with his back to me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But less than ten seconds later the results were obvious.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n All ten appendages had been completely or partially amputated. In this photo, if the chelipeds (large pincers) were still attached they might still be underwater but I could tell from other photos that they’d been removed too.<\/p>\n And of course, he turned his back to me while he was swallowing his fully prepped meal but it went down slick as a whistle.<\/p>\n I don’t recall ever seeing a Pied-billed Grebe swallow an adult crayfish without performing these amputations first. I suspect that if the crayfish is tiny they swallow them whole but that’s something I don’t believe I’ve ever documented.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At least when it comes to crayfish (crawdads). (4 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/pied-billed-grebe-1996-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"pied-billed-grebe-1996-ron-dudley\\"")
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