{"id":9904,"date":"2013-10-20T05:01:03","date_gmt":"2013-10-20T11:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9904"},"modified":"2025-02-02T10:17:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-02T16:17:12","slug":"western-grebe-with-a-chick-riding-piggyback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/20\/western-grebe-with-a-chick-riding-piggyback\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Grebe With A Chick Riding Piggyback"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WesternWestern Grebe with a chick riding piggyback – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Cute Alert!\u00a0Whenever I see Western Grebe chicks riding piggyback on\u00a0their parents\u00a0I can’t help thinking that there is a definite cute factor going on right in front of me.<\/p>\n

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span>‘<\/a>s auto tour route in northern Utah is a great place to see Western and Clark’s Grebes during the breeding season. Early in the season the adults can be seen performing their mating rituals which includes a choreographed courtship display called rushing<\/a><\/span> where both birds rise up, slap the water with their feet and rush across a body of water.<\/p>\n

After the courtship, nest building and incubation the tiny grebe chicks\u00a0are brooded\u00a0on the backs of the adults for a period of 2 to 4 weeks. When the chicks are as young as the one shown above they bear little resemblance to the adults in coloration, instead of black and white they are a soft gray and downy with dark eyes and a stubby black bill.<\/p>\n

This Western Grebe with a chick riding piggyback image is enchanting and visually appealing to me.<\/p>\n

Cute? You be the judge.<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139171,"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":[4004,699,1195,4134,877,707,4071,4094,343,2371,2315,4014],"class_list":["post-9904","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-chick","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-juvenile","tag-marsh","tag-photography","tag-piggyback","tag-summer-3","tag-western-grebe"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/western-grebe-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5089.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2zK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39306,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/08\/back-brooding-western-grebes\/","url_meta":{"origin":9904,"position":0},"title":"Back-brooding Western Grebes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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 back-brooding large chick, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/western-grebe-chick-adult-mia-mcpherson-1646.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/western-grebe-chick-adult-mia-mcpherson-1646.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/western-grebe-chick-adult-mia-mcpherson-1646.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/western-grebe-chick-adult-mia-mcpherson-1646.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":9904,"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":101210,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/29\/clarks-and-western-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":9904,"position":2},"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":150809,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/07\/25\/nesting-western-grebe-photos-from-bear-river-mbr-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":9904,"position":3},"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 Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nesting Western Grebe, 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-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-4541.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-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-4541.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-4541.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/western-grebe-on-nest-mia-mcpherson-4541.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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":9904,"position":4},"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, 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 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":116223,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/24\/demure-looking-western-grebe\/","url_meta":{"origin":9904,"position":5},"title":"Demure Looking Western Grebe","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, I photographed this demure looking Western Grebe on one of the water units from the auto tour loop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","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":"Demure looking Western Grebe at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, 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