FAMILY DIOMEDEIDAE 3 1 



as they differed slightly in size) rested side by side until suddenly 

 they raced across the surface for about a meter with bodies half out 

 of the water at an angle of 45° and then sank down to a sudden 

 stop. After preening and dabbling as though feeding, the display 

 was repeated. Both had the throat patches somewhat distended, and 

 one bird uttered a high-pitched nasal note. 



These grebes feed on aquatic life, from insects to small fishes. 

 One taken at La Laguna, Darien, had the stomach crammed with 

 large dragonfly larvae, mixed with fragments of aquatic beetles. 

 The stomach regularly is filled with feathers from the bird itself, 

 that are loosened and swallowed during preening. 



The least grebe as a species has a vast distribution from north- 

 western Mexico and southern Texas south throughout the Americas 

 to Tierra del Fuego, including the Bahama Islands and the Greater 

 Antilles. The present subspecies ranges locally from southern Texas 

 south through Mexico and Central America. 



The subspecies P. d. brachypterus, compared to P. d. dominicus 

 of the Bahama Islands and the Greater Antilles, has the bill slightly 

 smaller and the white color of the secondaries reduced in extent 

 toward the tips of the feathers. The race P. d. speciosus Lynch 

 Arribalzaga of South America is similar in size of wing and bill to 

 brachypterus but has the white markings on the secondaries extensive, 

 more so than in the typical race dominicus. 



(The eared grebe, Podiceps caspicus calif amicus Heermann, of 

 western North America is recorded in winter south to Guatemala 

 and also on the eastern Andean lakes of Colombia (De Schauensee, 

 Birds Colombia, 1948, p. 350). It is possible that it may be found 

 as a migrant in Panama. It resembles the least grebe in slender bill 

 and yellow eye, but is similar to the pied-billed grebe in size.) 



Order PROCELLARIIFORMES 



Family DIOMEDEIDAE: Albatrosses; Albatroses 



Though the narrow wings and general body form of albatrosses 

 are like those of their cousin shearwaters, their much greater size 

 identifies them with no uncertainty. When away from their nesting 

 grounds they are birds of the open seas. Little is known of their 

 occurrence in Panamanian waters. The only records are of vagrants 

 that have been encountered in the Gulf of Panama. The range of 

 those species that may be expected lies in the Pacific Ocean to the 

 south. 



