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<\/p>\nI’ve spent hundreds of hours with Pied-billed Grebes over the years and this is one of the few times I’ve managed to document this fairly unusual behavior. Its purpose\/function still eludes me.<\/p>\n
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The adult grebe was on the 4-way pond at Farmington Bay WMA when ‘he’ suddenly extended both wings horizontally. He held them in that position for an extended period of time, long enough for me to get many photos of him in that pose. There were no other grebes or other birds in his immediate vicinity but there were quite a few grebes fairly close by.<\/p>\n
I was struck by the behavior because in my experience it’s unusual. These birds often partially raise their folded wings vertically but this horizontal, fully extended wing position held for a long time seemed out of the ordinary, although I have occasionally seen it at other times.<\/p>\n
And it wasn’t the first time I’d seen this behavior that morning from what was probably the same bird.<\/p>\n
Note: See the comment from David Harkins below and my response regarding whether or not it was “the same bird”.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Less than a minute before the first photo above was taken (based on the time stamps on my photos) he’d struck the same pose but this time there was another grebe slowly approaching him at an oblique angle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even though he slowly raised them slightly higher he kept his wings extended for the entire time it took the second grebe to slowly swim by, long enough for me to once again get multiple photos of the behavior.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When it eventually became obvious that the second grebe had no interest in him he immediately folded his wings and then both birds went about their normal business.<\/p>\n Perhaps we can infer that the behavior was some sort of threat or warning display. Since it was unusual I tried to research it but I came up empty. Even Cornell’s exhaustive Birds of the World account on Pied-billed Grebe behaviors doesn’t mention it.<\/p>\n I’m convinced the grebe wasn’t just stretching.<\/p>\n It may be folly to presume the behavior was an agonistic (aggressive) display directed at the second grebe. These photos were taken in late February which is precisely the time breeding behaviors begin in Pied-billed Grebes in North America. Males and females of this species look alike so it seems possible that the behavior was some kind of sexual display (sexual advertising), although once again Cornell doesn’t mention it that I could find.<\/p>\n So for now at least I’m calling it a mystery behavior.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve spent hundreds of hours with Pied-billed Grebes over the years and this is one of the few times I’ve managed to document this fairly unusual behavior. Its purpose\/function still eludes me.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-3380-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"pied-billed-grebe-3380-ron-dudley\\"")
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