Pied-billed Grebe

A loud, accelerating series of hollow cow-like notes given by males during courtship and territorial displays; carries far across marshes, especially at dawn and dusk.

Breeds across most of North America, the Caribbean, and Central America; winters southward to Panama and across the southern United States, remaining year-round where water stays open.

Freshwater ponds, marshes, slow-moving rivers, reservoirs, and sheltered coastal estuaries with abundant emergent vegetation.

Nests late spring through summer; widespread on migration in early spring and late fall; congregates on larger, ice-free waters in winter.

A pudgy, short-necked grebe that looks more like a floating brown nugget than a sleek waterbird. In breeding plumage it sports a stout, whitish bill neatly encircled by a black band— the "pied" that gives the species its name. Often seen alone, it prefers to dive rather than fly when frightened, sometimes sinking out of sight without a ripple.