GREBES: Family Colymbidae [ 77 ] 



Pied-billed Grebe: 



Podilymbus podiceps podiceps (Linnaeus) 



DESCRIPTION. "Bill short and stout, head not crested. Breeding plumage: Bill 

 whitish, crossed by a black band ; upper parts blackish; chin and throat black; breast 

 mottled silvery gray. Winter plumage: Bill bro\vnish, with paler lower mandible; 

 chin, throat, and breast whitish." (Bailey) Downy young: "The downy young is 

 prettily and quite strikingly marked with black and white; it is mainly glossy black 

 above, with longitudinal stripes of grayish white on the neck and back; the crown 

 is black, more or less variegated with 'walnut brown' or 'burnt umber,' sometimes 

 in the form of a central patch, and with two broad superciliary stripes of white 

 meeting on the forehead and two white stripes above them; the sides of the neck and 

 throat are variegated with black and white and the sides of the body are more or less 

 washed with dusky; the under parts are grayish white, lightest on the belly." (Bent) 

 Si%e: "Length 11-15, w ig 4-5~5- oo > bill about .87." (Bailey) Nest: A floating 

 platform of rotting vegetation, anchored to or built around green or dead reeds or 

 tules; not in colonies as with other grebes, but few at most, in a place. Eggs 

 usually covered by nest material during absence of owners. Eggs: 3 to 10, usually 5 

 to 7, very similar to the dull bluish white of other grebes and badly nest-stained 

 with browns or buffs. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Over North America, except extreme north, nesting 

 throughout most of this territory. In Oregon: Permanent resident throughout State 

 wherever suitable pond and water conditions are present. 



THE PIED-BILLED GREBE, or "dabchick," with its drab color and heavy 

 bill, is undoubtedly better known to the farmer boys of Oregon than is 

 any other water bird, unless it is the Mud Hen, or American Coot. 

 Townsend (1839) first reported it from Oregon. His notes were followed 

 by those of Suckley (1860), Bendire (1877), and Merrill (1888), among 

 the earlier naturalists, of whom Bendire was the first to report it breeding. 

 Johnson (1880) recorded it from Multnomah, Washington, and Marion 

 Counties; Woodcock (1902.) from Yamhill-, Lincoln, Linn, and Benton 

 Counties; Merrill (1888), from Klamath County; Walker (191713), from 

 Lake County; and Finley (i9o8b) and Willett (1919), from Malheur 

 County. Our own records are from Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Lin- 

 coln, Lane, Coos, Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, Lake, Harney, Malheur, 

 Deschutes, Umatilla, and Wallowa Counties. It can be looked for in 

 small tule-bordered ponds in any part of the State during breeding season 

 and on unfrozen and sluggish rivers everywhere during the fall, winter, 

 and early spring. 



Unlike the other grebes that breed in Oregon, it prefers to nest alone 

 rather than in colonies, and any tule-lined pond, however small, is likely 

 to harbor a pair of these small waterfowl. They nest most commonly in 

 Klamath, Lake, and Harney Counties, where the almost innumerable tiny 

 ponds and swamps furnish ideal conditions for them. They have been 

 found breeding in western Oregon also, on Sauvies Island in Multnomah 

 County, Gales Creek in Washington County, and Devils Lake in Lincoln 

 County, where at least two pairs have bred each year since 192.9. They 



