{"id":14739,"date":"2014-04-11T05:33:20","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T11:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14739"},"modified":"2025-11-30T05:45:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T11:45:12","slug":"clarks-grebes-and-their-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/11\/clarks-grebes-and-their-young\/","title":{"rendered":"Clark’s Grebes And Their Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult and juvenile Clark’s Grebe<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this week I saw several Clark’s Grebes while on the auto tour route of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> in northern Utah along with numerous Western Grebes.<\/p>\n

The photos I am sharing this morning are not from this year but do represent what I will be seeing later on in the season.<\/p>\n

Clark’s and Western Grebe were considered the same species for quite some time but they are now considered separate species.<\/p>\n

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is a wonderful location to see nesting Clark’s Grebes as well as a great place to see them rearing their young.<\/p>\n

There are many locations where the water in the impoundments is close to the auto tour route which can allow close up opportunities for observation and photography.<\/p>\n

The photo above shows the moment after the adult Clark’s Grebe passed a small fish to the juvenile. The adult was going out of breeding plumage by this time and the immature grebe’s eyes were starting to\u00a0turn the cherry red that I enjoy seeing so much.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Clark’s Grebe and prey<\/span><\/p>\n

Not long after the adult passed the prey to the juvenile Clark’s Grebe it paddled away from the adult and shook it’s prey several times, dropped it into the water, and picked it back up before ingesting it.<\/p>\n

\"Clark'sClark’s Grebe adult giving a chick a ride<\/span><\/p>\n

Clark’s Grebes leave the nest soon after the last chick has hatched and from that point on will back brood their chicks until the chicks are\u00a0two to four weeks of age. This image shows one of the Clark’s Grebe chicks resting on one of the\u00a0adults while the other parent was searching for food nearby.<\/p>\n

Before the chicks are hatched this year the adults will be courting, displaying and dancing on the water as they rush and I hope to spend time trying to photograph all of those behaviors to share with you. Clark’s Grebes and their young are fascinating subjects to watch and photograph.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Clark’s Grebe photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clark’s Grebes and their young are fascinating subjects to watch and photograph. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,162,1022,26],"tags":[4004,4155,1195,4008,4016,877,707,4067,4071,4094,4106,2315,3996,4095,4193],"class_list":["post-14739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-clarks-grebes","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-aechmophorus-clarkii","tag-back-brooding","tag-box-elder-county","tag-clarks-grebe","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-marsh","tag-prey","tag-summer-3","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-chick-prey-mia-mcpherson-7796.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3PJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101210,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/29\/clarks-and-western-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":14739,"position":0},"title":"Clark’s And Western Grebe Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On my trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last week I was delighted to see and hear both Clark's and Western Grebe species from the auto tour loop.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Clark's Grebe close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101597,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/14\/spring-clarks-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":14739,"position":1},"title":"Spring Clark’s Grebe Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing a few spring Clark's Grebe images today that I took up in the marshes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge during the first week of April.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Clark's Grebes in early spring, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107699,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/02\/immature-clarks-grebe-and-a-mystery\/","url_meta":{"origin":14739,"position":2},"title":"Immature Clark’s Grebe And A Mystery","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I came across an immature Clark's Grebe on Monday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I took photos of the grebe because I could see something on its fluffy neck.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Clark's Grebe with something on its neck, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/clarks-grebe-immature-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-3188.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/clarks-grebe-immature-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-3188.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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