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Podiceps auritus
Neck too short for a western, and our westerns all seem to be in breeding plumage now. Neck sides slightly reddish, with thin dark line down back of neck
boat basin
Curious to know if this is a horned grebe in winter plumage or a red necked grebe way out of range
Spotted on Mar 4, 2012
Submitted on Mar 5, 2012
5 Comments
Thank you Liam, that was my guess too. I feel cheated seeing all these lovely water bird species in their winter plumage, but not breeding plumage
This is a Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus). Bill is much too small for Red-necked and the bird isn't dark enough for Eared.
I don't think it is a red-necked in this case anyway.
I dont have my field guide with me - cornell U website doesn't show any west coast area as red necked winter range
It looks to me like a nonbreeding Horned Grebe. Bill dosen't seem to me right shape, size for Red-necked, nor does the color. However just a side note, my guide does shows the west coast of Oregon as Red-necked winter range.