{"id":34659,"date":"2015-10-14T05:43:19","date_gmt":"2015-10-14T11:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=34659"},"modified":"2015-10-14T05:52:47","modified_gmt":"2015-10-14T11:52:47","slug":"grebes-why-theyre-such-good-swimmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/14\/grebes-why-theyre-such-good-swimmers\/","title":{"rendered":"Grebes – Why They’re Such Good Swimmers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Podiceps<\/em>, the genus name for grebes, means “anus-foot”. Unlike some\u00a0Latin names, this one is well-earned.<\/p>\n

Grebes are unique to most other\u00a0water birds in two ways:\u00a0\u00a01.)\u00a0their legs are attached to their bodies at the rear (thus “anus-foot”), rather than underneath and 2.)\u00a0the toes of grebes are lobed instead of webbed. Having legs attached at the rear\u00a0allows for efficient swimming but causes\u00a0extreme clumsiness while walking \u2013 they rarely venture on to land but when they do they often fall down\u00a0after just a few steps.\u00a0 And recent experimental work with grebes has demonstrated that the lobes on the toes function much like the hydrofoil blades of a propeller.\u00a0In other words, grebes are built for speed both on and in the water.<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA I photographed a juvenile Pied-billed Grebe demonstrating both its speed on the water and how it’s able to accomplish it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"pied-billed<\/p>\n

1\/5000, f\/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, canvas added for composition,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though many folks ignore them I love photographing Pied-billed Grebes because their behavior is so mercurial. One moment they seem lethargic to the point of boredom\u00a0and the next moment all hell breaks loose – usually in fighting as they try to steal fish from each other or scampering across the water for whatever reason. But they’re very fast and difficult to photograph well when they do it. When photographing them I usually have fast shutter speeds dialed in just in case I get lucky and yesterday I did.<\/p>\n

I cropped this image as I did to emphasize the incredible trough this tiny bird carves into the surface of the water as it accelerates. It takes speed to do that and the next image in the sequence shows how they’re able to achieve it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"pied-billed<\/p>\n

1\/5000, f\/5.6, 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

Just look how far back and high on the body those legs are attached (visualize a walking duck for comparison). Since the leg attachment is usually hidden from view this may be one of my best shots of any grebe species to demonstrate the unusual attachment point. The “surfboard effect” has raised\u00a0that plump little body high enough out of the water so the attachment point can be easily seen.<\/p>\n

Birds of North America Online has a wonderful description of the mechanics of grebe swimming:<\/p>\n