Western Grebe
213194
215279251
2008-05-27T14:21:00Z
208.98.217.128
changes 'courtship displays' to 'courtship display'
{{Taxobox
| name = Western Grebe
| image = Western_Grebe_at_the_Cabrillo_Salt_Marsh.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| status = LC
| status_system = iucn3.1
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Aves]]
| ordo = [[Podicipediformes]]
| familia = [[Podicipedidae]]
| genus = '' [[Aechmophorus]] ''
| species = '''''A. occidentalis'''''
| binomial = ''Aechmophorus occidentalis''
| binomial_authority = ([[George Newbold Lawrence|Lawrence]], [[1858]])
| synonyms =
*''Aechmophorus lucasi''<br/><small>[[Loye H. Miller|Miller]], [[1911]]</small>
*''Aechmophorus occidentalis lucasi''<br/><small>[[Loye H. Miller|Miller]], [[1911]]</small>
*''Aechmophorus occidentalis occidentalis''<br/><small>(Lawrence, 1858)</small>
}}
The '''Western Grebe''', ('''''Aechmophorus occidentalis'''''<ref>
[[Etymology]]: ''Aechmophorus'', "spear-bearer", from [[Ancient Greek]] ''aichme'' (a spear) + ''phoros'' (one who bears something around), in reference to its bill; ''occidentalis'': [[Latin]] for "western".</ref>),
is a [[species]] in the [[grebe]] family of water [[Aves|bird]]s. Folk names include "dabchick", "swan grebe" and "swan-necked grebe".
This is the largest [[North America]]n grebe 56-74 cm (22"-29") long. It is black-and-white, with a long, slender, [[swan]]-like neck and red eyes. It is easily confused with [[Clark's Grebe]], which shares the same features, behavior and habitat, and [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrids]] are known.
The Western Grebe has black around the eyes and a straight greenish-yellow bill whereas the Clark's Grebe has white around the eyes and an up-turned bright yellow bill. The downy young of Western are grey; Clark's downy young are white.
[[Image:Western Grebe.jpg|thumb|left|Western Grebe out of the water]]
Western Grebes nest in colonies of hundreds on large inland [[lakes]], sometimes using [[coast]]al [[marshes]], in western [[North America]]. It has a spectacular [[courtship display]]; two birds will rear up and patter across the water's surface. Northern [[birds]] [[bird migration|migrate]] west to [[coastal]] [[ocean]] in [[winter]]; birds in the southwest and [[Mexico]] may be permanent residents.
This bird dines by diving for [[carp]], [[herring]], [[mollusk]]s, [[crab]]s, and [[salamander]]s.
Western Grebe fossils from the [[Late Pleistocene]] of SW North America<!-- Auk90:483; Condor51:20;69:24 --> were described as a distinct species (Miller 1911), but later ranked as a [[paleosubspecies]] ''Aechmophorus occidentalis lucasi'' (Howard 1946). More recent study found them to fall within the variation now known to exist in today's birds (Jehl 1967, Storer 1989).
==References==
* {{IUCN2006|assessors={{aut|BirdLife International}}|year=2004|id=49532|title=Aechmophorus occidentalis|downloaded=12 May 2006}} Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
* {{aut|Howard, Hildegarde}} (1946): A review of the Pleistocene birds of Fossil Lake, Oregon. ''Carnegie Institution of Washington Publications'' '''551''': 141-195.
* {{aut|Jehl, Joseph R. Jr}} (1967): Pleistocene Birds from Fossil Lake, Oregon. ''[[Condor (journal)|Condor]]'' '''69'''(1): 24-27 [http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v069n01/p0024-p0027.pdf PDF fulltext]
* {{aut|Miller, Loye H.}} (1911): Additions to the avifauna of the Pleistocene deposits at Fossil Lake, Oregon. ''University of California Publications, Bulletin of the Department of Geology'' '''6''': 79-87.
* {{aut|Storer, Robert W.}} (1989): The Pleistocene Western Grebe ''Aechmophorus'' (Aves, Podicipedidae) from Fossil Lake, Oregon: A comparison with Recent material. ''Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan'' '''27'''(12): 321-326. [http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/dspace/bitstream/2027.42/48534/2/ID387.pdf PDF fulltext]
==External links==
* [http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/facts/western_grebe_712.html Western Grebe Facts and Photos] - NatureMapping Program
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Western_Grebe_dtl.html Western Grebe Species Account] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i0010id.html Western Grebe - <i>Aechmophorus occidentalis</i>] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
* [http://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/western_grebe_info.htm Western Grebe Information and Photos] - South Dakota Birds and Birding
* [http://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/901800.htm Stamps] (for [[Canada]])
* [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=97 Western Grebe videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
* [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=western+grebe&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Western Grebe photo gallery] VIREO
===Footnotes===
{{commons|Aechmophorus occidentalis}}
<references/>
<!-- see a very specific RangeMap/maps, list, etc at: "www.natureserve.org" ....only one small region of "Passage Migrant"-(just East of Southern Rocky Mtns,U.S.)-->
[[Category:Aechmophorus]]
[[Category:Podicipedidae]]
[[Category:Birds of North America|Grebe, Western]]
[[Category:Birds of Canada|Grebe, Western]]
[[Category:Birds of the United States|Grebe, Western]]
[[Category:Birds of Mexico|Grebe, Western]]
[[Category:Birds of the Sea of Cortez|Grebe, Western]]
[[de:Renntaucher]]
[[es:Aechmophorus occidentalis]]
[[fr:Grèbe élégant]]
[[it:Aechmophorus occidentalis]]
[[hu:Nyugati vöcsök]]
[[ja:クビナガカイツブリ]]
[[pl:perkoz wielki]]
[[ru:Западная поганка]]
[[sv:Mörk svandopping]]