{"id":27862,"date":"2015-08-29T05:31:35","date_gmt":"2015-08-29T11:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=27862"},"modified":"2025-07-23T10:31:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T15:31:43","slug":"a-western-grebe-with-a-feather-on-its-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/29\/a-western-grebe-with-a-feather-on-its-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Grebe with a feather on its bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WesternWestern Grebe with a feather on its bill – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, -1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/a><\/span> I found a couple of Western Grebes preening in an area where the reflections on the water are always wonderful so I took a series of images.<\/p>\n

I love it when the blue sky is also reflected on the surface along with the other colors and this frame has that and it also shows a feather stuck to the bill of the grebe that is in sharp focus.<\/p>\n

Grebes are known for eating their own feathers. From Birds of North American (BNA) online:<\/p>\n

Stomachs also contain many feathers, mostly from the bird\u2019s flanks and scapulars, tracts, which are in almost constant molt. Feathers swallowed as they come out in the course of preening. Most feathers form ball in lumen of stomach, but some form plug at pyloric exit. Function not proven but thought to keep fish bones from injuring lining of stomach and reaching intestine or, as suggested by Piersma and Van Eerden (1989), to assist in the formation of pellets which can be ejected, eliminating indigestible material and a possible build-up of gastric parasites. Pyloric plug may reduce number of intestinal parasites, which are numerous (see Demography: mortality and disease), although effectiveness is unknown (Storer 2000).<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I did not observe either of these grebes eating the feathers they plucked out while preening that morning instead the feathers simply floated down the Bear River.<\/p>\n

I like the bit of interest the single feathers provides.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Two days ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I found a couple of Western Grebes preening in an area where the reflections on the water are always wonderful so I took a series of images. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150692,"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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,26,161],"tags":[4004,699,4608,877,707,4094,12131,4014,4095],"class_list":["post-27862","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-utah","category-western-grebes","tag-adult","tag-aechmophorus-occidentalis","tag-feather","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-marsh","tag-stomach","tag-western-grebe","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebes-feather-mia-mcpherson-2247.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-7fo","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":27862,"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":113164,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/03\/springtime-grebe-and-avocet-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":27862,"position":1},"title":"Springtime Grebe And Avocet Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing two springtime portraits that I took last week at Bear River MBR. The first is a Western Grebe, the second, an American Avocet.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Springtime Western Grebe portrait, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"November 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a great time observing and photographing a Pied-billed Grebe exhibiting Crash-dive behavior at Bear River MBR from the auto tour loop on Monday.","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":"Pied-billed Grebe splashing water in a Crash-dive, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-faux-submarining-mia-mcpherson-6543.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-faux-submarining-mia-mcpherson-6543.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-faux-submarining-mia-mcpherson-6543.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-faux-submarining-mia-mcpherson-6543.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":150809,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/07\/25\/nesting-western-grebe-photos-from-bear-river-mbr-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":27862,"position":4},"title":"Nesting Western Grebe Photos From Bear River MBR In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I\u2019m sharing two nesting Western Grebe photos that were taken at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101597,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/14\/spring-clarks-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":27862,"position":5},"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, 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