{"id":40903,"date":"2016-08-12T05:08:50","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T11:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=40903"},"modified":"2025-07-23T13:30:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:30:59","slug":"hungry-western-grebe-chick-begging-to-be-fed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/12\/hungry-western-grebe-chick-begging-to-be-fed\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungry Western Grebe Chick Begging To Be Fed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WesternWestern Grebe chick begging to be fed – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I posted a video that had the sound of a Western Grebe chick begging<\/a><\/span> for food from its parent but the chick couldn’t be seen because of some rushes.<\/p>\n

I was back at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning and there were grebes in the same location as there were on the day that I took the video but this time I could see the chick clearly. I was able to take several images of this hungry Western Grebe chick begging to be fed and laughed out loud when I saw this funny face through my view finder. If birds had tonsils, I could see them with the bill open this wide.<\/p>\n

Not only are the Western Grebe chicks loud and persistent when they beg for food they can almost look scary too.<\/p>\n

\"FluffyFluffy Western Grebe chick at Bear River MBR – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

To be fair though, most of the time they don’t look scary, they look fluffy. I don’t know how old this chick is but it has developed the red eyes of the adults even while it sports its juvenal plumage.<\/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":"

I was able to take several images of this hungry Western Grebe chick begging to be fed and laughed out loud when I saw this funny face through my view finder. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150719,"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":[699,740,4134,707,4067,4071,4094,3996,4014,4095,4193],"class_list":["post-40903","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-aechmophorus-occidentalis","tag-begging","tag-chick","tag-grebes-2","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-marsh","tag-water","tag-western-grebe","tag-wetlands","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-chick-begging-mia-mcpherson-9160.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aDJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40880,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/11\/western-grebe-with-three-chicks-with-a-bonus-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":40903,"position":0},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/western-grebe-adult-and-three-chicks-mia-mcpherson-1804.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/western-grebe-adult-and-three-chicks-mia-mcpherson-1804.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5171,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/12\/hitching-a-ride-grebe-chicks\/","url_meta":{"origin":40903,"position":1},"title":"Hitching A Ride – Grebe Chicks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Grebe chicks are showing up all over at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (aka Bear River National Wildlife Refuge) in northern Utah and they are just adorable to see 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":"Adult Western Grebe with three chicks on its back, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebes-mia-mcpherson-6735.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-grebes-mia-mcpherson-6735.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebes-mia-mcpherson-6735.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebes-mia-mcpherson-6735.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":40903,"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, 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=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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=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":40903,"position":3},"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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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27779,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/24\/western-grebes-and-their-young-at-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":40903,"position":5},"title":"Western Grebes And Their Young At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There were plenty of Western Grebes to be seen and photographed yesterday morning at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge and I took tons of images of them.","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 Western Grebe and golden reflections, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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