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![\"western-grebe-4721\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/western-grebe-4721.jpg\")
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\u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS USM, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n The one time when some folks might see their wings partially raised is during their springtime “rushing ceremony” but even then the wings are only raised at the humerus and\u00a0never extended. The rest of the wing remains folded.<\/p>\n But yesterday morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge\u00a0I did see and photograph a single Western Grebe with its wings momentarily extended as it performed a behavior that I had never\u00a0before witnessed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Over the years I’ve spent hundreds of hours watching Western Grebes and when I’ve seen them fishing it’s nearly always been in still or very slowly moving water. But yesterday a group of\u00a0them was fishing where the water was forced through a narrow channel so the current was fast. Very fast! Apparently the best fishing was at the bottom of this fastest flowing water but the current was so rapid that the birds had a very difficult time simply maintaining their position in the water, much less making any\u00a0headway.<\/p>\n It appears that this bird is swimming rapidly forward but in reality it’s barely staying in position as it paddles furiously in the current.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n In order to make any headway the birds had to paddle so hard with their rear-placed feet that the effort would actually drag most of their body under the surface before they reached their goal\u00a0in the water\u00a0so one grebe tried a different tactic.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n It actually used its raised and extended<\/em> wings as a propulsion aid to help it move forward in the current. This is a common behavior with Pied-billed Grebes but as far as I can tell in my research it’s virtually unheard of in this species. Western Grebes are incredibly fast swimmers but typically they use only their feet for propulsion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n As you can see in this mediocre shot (I wasn’t prepared for this behavior so I clipped the beak and the bird is a little soft) the wings are almost fully extended at the “elbow” and “hand” so that the flight feathers can be seen.<\/p>\n I realize that all this is likely no big deal for some but it always gets my attention when I see something new (at least to me)\u00a0in the field.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – I’m curious to know if any of my readers have ever seen the fully extended wings of Western (or Clark’s) Grebes, other than during a wing stretch…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The fully extended wings of Western Grebes are rarely seen by humans for several reasons:<\/p>\n![\"western](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/western-grebe-9996-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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