On lakes and coasts of western North America, it dives for fish; during courtship, pairs run together across the water.
This slender grebe has a long neck and sharply divided black-and-white plumage. Its bill is yellow and its eye is red.
Western Grebes breed on lakes in western North America. A study revisited 43 Alberta lakes where the species had been recorded since 1970 and found grebes at 27 lakes during the 2008 survey. Of 21 lakes that had supported breeding, nests or young were found at ten, and eight had established colonies.
Bulrush along lake shores provides nesting cover. In the study’s models, the extent of shoreline bulrush was associated with the relative probability that grebes persisted, while lakes in the northern boreal forest were less likely to retain them. The authors noted that the reasons for losses at the edge of the species’ range were still not fully understood.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In a revisit of 43 Alberta lakes, Western Grebes remained at 27; breeding evidence was found at 10 of 21 historic breeding lakes. Shoreline bulrush, which provides nesting cover, was associated with persistence in the study’s models.