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.
Pied-billed Grebe at the start of a Crash-dive – Nikon D500, f8, 1/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Personally, I call this behavior as ‘submarining’ because the grebes sink like a submarine. However, for this post, I will use the term ‘Crash-dive’ because it is the proper terminology.
What is a Pied-billed Grebe Crash-dive?
The explanation for Crash-dive on BirdsoftheWorld.org is as follows:
Crash-dive: Pushes breast down and thrusts wings outward, pushing body down, tail and head disappearing last, while feet kick water up to 2 meters into air.
There were several Pied-billed Grebes in the area where I photographed the one at the start of a Crash-dive above. There were also gulls circling overhead that were diving at the grebes because they were attempting to steal small fish from the grebes.
But it was a Northern Harrier diving at the grebe that caused the bird in my photos to start the Crash-dive. It was the height of the splashing water behind the grebe caught my eye. The grebe’s tail is that dark triangular shape just in front of the water droplets.
Pied-billed Grebe splashing water in a Crash-dive – Nikon D500, f8, 1/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I kept my camera locked onto the grebe and fired away. In the second photo of the series, the splashing water reached even higher. The grebe’s tail was submerged at this point.
Pied-billed Grebe in a faux Crash-dive – Nikon D500, f8, 1/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Because the Northern Harrier flew off almost immediately, the Pied-billed Grebe aborted the Crash-dive it had started at this point. I called it a faux dive. Other people might call it a fake out Crash-dive.
The Pied-billed Grebe did not finish the Crash-dive because it never sank completely below the surface of the water. Seeing and photographing this faux Crash-dive was fascinating. I wanted to share the images I took of this interesting behavior.
Autumn Pied-billed Grebe and a floating feather – Nikon D500, f8, 1/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
This final image is a bonus photo that may or may not feature the same grebe as the one in the three previous images. I liked the photo because of the great eye contact I had with the grebe, but it was the tiny floating feather in front of the bird that held the most appeal for me.
Overall, I had a marvelous time photographing the Pied-billed Grebes and observing their behavior at the refuge on Monday.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Pied-billed Grebe photos plus facts and information about this species.
Definitely fascinating. And no doubt a life saver.
Love grebes! Thank you for this post!-Jeri S.
Thanks for these beautiful photos and explaining the Pied-billed Grebe’s behavior as well as the Northern Harrier’s!