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Project Noah Nature School
Podiceps nigricollis californicus
A Black-necked grebe in non-breeding plumage. Dark grey and white colors. A longer neck and a slender bill compared to the pied-billed grebe. This is an immature bird as it still has yellowish eyes. Adults have red eyes. I watched it for a few minutes struggling to eat its prey. The black-necked grebe forages mainly by diving but can use other techniques like foliage gleaning. They typically eat crustaceans, molluscs, tadpoles, small frogs, brine shrimp, and fish.
Spotted at Klopp Lake at the Arcata Marsh and Bird Sanctuary.
Spotted on Nov 20, 2021
Submitted on Dec 12, 2021
5 Comments
It turns out the prey is a pipefish and most likely the Bay pipefish (Syngnathus leptorhynchus), which is native to the eastern Pacific. They are found in bays, estuaries, and sometimes shallow offshore waters usually where there is eelgrass to camouflage in. In the first pic (though the lighting is poor) its elongated head can be seen.
Thank you Sukanya. I'm always surprised when I see birds eating a good size snake whole. It just brings up so many more questions.
Yes, snake I thought too...you have incredible luck catching snake being turned into dinner/lunch.
Thanks for commenting Chun. I'm not sure what the prey is. In pic 3 it looks like a snake.
Interesting behaviour! I wonder what the prey is.