Red-necked Grebe: a two-minute wildlife lesson

On the Lake · day 3 of 7

Five facts

1. Courting pairs shake their heads, offer each other green weeds and finish with a "penguin dance", rising upright on the water breast to breast.
2. Red-necked grebes swallow lots of their own feathers and even feed some to their chicks. These may help shield the gut from sharp fish bones.
3. Its wings are small, so it cannot take off from land. It needs a long run across the water to get airborne.
4. In autumn, up to 18,000 red-necked grebes may fly past Whitefish Point on Lake Superior, in North America, on their way to the Atlantic.
5. A line runs from its eye down to the tip of its bill. The grebe probably opens its bill and aims along this line, like a gunsight, before it dives.

The quiz

1. What is the last part of the red-necked grebe's courtship called?

• The crab walk
• The penguin dance (correct)
• The eagle spin
• The frog hop

The display ends in a "penguin" dance, with the pair upright breast to breast.

2. What unusual thing do red-necked grebes swallow?

• Pebbles from the beach
• Snow
• Their own feathers (correct)
• Tree bark

They swallow large amounts of their own feathers, which stay in the stomach.

3. How does a red-necked grebe take off?

• By leaping from a rock
• Straight up from the ground
• From a tree branch
• With a long run across the water (correct)

Its small wings mean it needs a long run over water to take off.

4. How many red-necked grebes may pass Whitefish Point in autumn?

• Up to 18,000 (correct)
• Only 10
• About 1 million
• Just 2

Up to 18,000 birds may pass this point on Lake Superior.

5. What may the grebe use the line from its eye to its bill for?

• Aiming at prey before diving (correct)
• Keeping its eyes dry
• Attracting a mate
• Telling the time of day

It may sight along this line toward its prey before diving.

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