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Project Noah Nature School
Aechmophorus occidentalis
Spotted on Jan 13, 2008
Submitted on Sep 26, 2012
3 Comments
Yeah, this is 100% abnormal for grebe species. They do not go on land unless something is severly wrong. Would contact the nearest wildlife rehaber that works with aquatic birds next time a situation like this arises. Beautiful bird though.
I did not approach it any closer than the photos show. I was ~20m away. There were a couple grebe carcasses on the beach that day, so not really sure what was going on? This grebe did seem pretty intent on staying right there and resting so I suspect something was not quite right with it. No external trauma or fishing line or anything so I left it as it was found. Thanks for the comment Liam!
Did you approach it? Grebes have a hard time walking due to the placement of their feet, sometimes they get stuck on the shore and die. I found a dead one on the shore of Lake Hodges in San Diego.
Great photos, though!