{"id":39306,"date":"2016-05-08T06:28:19","date_gmt":"2016-05-08T12:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39306"},"modified":"2025-03-09T08:40:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T13:40:46","slug":"back-brooding-western-grebes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/08\/back-brooding-western-grebes\/","title":{"rendered":"Back-brooding Western Grebes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Western Grebes are well known for back-brooding their young and that begins immediately after they hatch and continues until they are several weeks in age.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Grebe back-brooding large chick – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> is a great location to consistently see back-brooding Western Grebes during the breeding season and it can be done easily from the auto tour loop.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Grebe back-brooding two chicks – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As I write this it is probably too early to see back-brooding Western or Clark’s Grebes back-brooding at the refuge but it won’t be long before we will all see the young taking piggyback rides on their parents backs.<\/p>\n

Both parents brood their young in this manner and the non-brooding parent spends a lot of time catching prey and bringing it to their young.<\/p>\n

\"Back-broodingBack-brooding Western Grebe – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The juvenile grebes climb up the backs of the adults from behind and them move forward until they are close to the adult’s neck.<\/p>\n

The parents can even make shallow dives with the juveniles on their backs but more often than not they shake their young off of their backs before diving.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Grebe back-brooding its young – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve seen very large chicks climb up on the back of adults both at the Bear River refuge and at Farmington Bay WMA over the years that I have lived in Utah.<\/p>\n

I think I am fondest of seeing the tiny chicks with just their heads sticking out of the feathers on the adult’s back. They make my “cute” alert go off!<\/p>\n

I wish a very Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and to moms everywhere whether they are biological moms or adoptive moms and to moms of our four-legged families too.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is a great location to consistently see back-brooding Western Grebes during the breeding season and it can be done easily from the auto tour loop. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,26,161],"tags":[4004,699,1195,4068,877,707,4071,2371,4014,4193],"class_list":["post-39306","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-back-brooding","tag-chicks","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-juvenile","tag-piggyback","tag-western-grebe","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/western-grebe-chick-adult-mia-mcpherson-1646.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-adY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4321,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/07\/give-me-winter-or-give-me-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":39306,"position":0},"title":"Give Me Winter or Give Me Spring!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Enough already, if there isn't going to be a winter then bring on the spring!","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":"Western Grebe family at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-family-mia-mcpherson-9102.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-family-mia-mcpherson-9102.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-family-mia-mcpherson-9102.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-family-mia-mcpherson-9102.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14739,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/11\/clarks-grebes-and-their-young\/","url_meta":{"origin":39306,"position":1},"title":"Clark’s Grebes And Their Young","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Clark's Grebes and their young are fascinating subjects to watch and photograph.","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":"Juvenile Clark's Grebe and prey at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-chick-prey-mia-mcpherson-7796.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-chick-prey-mia-mcpherson-7796.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-chick-prey-mia-mcpherson-7796.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-chick-prey-mia-mcpherson-7796.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9904,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/20\/western-grebe-with-a-chick-riding-piggyback\/","url_meta":{"origin":39306,"position":2},"title":"Western Grebe With A Chick Riding Piggyback","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Cute Alert! Whenever I see Western Grebe chicks riding piggyback on their parents I can't help thinking that there is a definite cute factor going on right in front of me.","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":"Western Grebe with a chick riding piggyback, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/western-grebe-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5089.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/western-grebe-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5089.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Western Grebe and golden reflections, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0954.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0954.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0954.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0954.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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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":40880,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/11\/western-grebe-with-three-chicks-with-a-bonus-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":39306,"position":5},"title":"Western Grebe with Three Chicks with a Bonus Video","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The sound you hear in the video is just one Western Grebe chick begging to be fed and it was loud even over the wind!","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":"Western Grebe with three chicks, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/western-grebe-adult-and-three-chicks-mia-mcpherson-1804.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/western-grebe-adult-and-three-chicks-mia-mcpherson-1804.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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