December 31, 1961 - The Grebes of Long IslandE
Pied - billed Grebe (left) and Horned Grebe in winder plumage
Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Puleston of Brookhaven
'Focus, on Nature by Paul Stoutenburgh
"'e Grebes of Long -Island
My boy Peter is a pretty good
birder for the age of nine but
the word grebe seemed to throw
,him. the other day when he over -
hearad the term being used. Per -
haps if the term helld'iver had
been used, he would have under-
stood, as that is what the grebes
are. called here on Long Island.
We have three species of grebes
in our waters, the Horned grebe,
the pied - billed grebe and the Hol-
boell's grebe. Of the three species
' the most common is the horned,
for it freuuents our bays and
ocean, while the pied- billed us-
ually frequents the fresh waters
- lakes, pond's and' streams. This
ns not to say that either cannot
be found in fresh or salt waters.
The Holboell's grebe is probably
the rarest species and it is found
almost exclusively in the ocean
and •outer bays. Usually, but not
always, we can seethe bird at
Montauk, and just two weeks ago
we had the pleasure of viewing
two of them off the Point..
Identification of these t h r e e
grebes is relatively simple. The
silhouette in itself is a disin-
guishing mark from the ducks.
These are also smaller than _host
ducks.
The winters plumage, w h i c h
most of us are accustomed to
seeing, is rather drab gray -black
to grayish - white. The key char-
acteristic of the pied- billed over
the horned is the chicken -like bill
With a characteristic black mark.
The bill of the horned grebe
is much more pointed but not
as long as the Holboell's. This
latter has the characteristic trait
of straight, upright, long neck
that separates him from the other
two.
At one time all grebes we r e
considered legal game and hun-
dreds of thousands were killed
each year by the hunter. Slowly
our game laws are swinging to
a more sensible pattern and today
the grebes Eire -protected through-
out the year. It is against the
law for anyone to shoot them.
Yer I a n afraid a great number
sfill . fall prey to the pot hunter
who continually needs something
to shoot at.
I well remember the time a
few years back when a • Federal
game warden asked permission
to use my boat. I agreed and
took, him out with my rotor to
check on some gunners in the
Bay who were motoring, about,
shooting at will at everything.
I remember as I cut the motor
off and we drifted up to within
hailing distance, the conversation
went like this.
"How did you do ?" asked the
Conservation officer. To this the
swo duck hunters replied,
`Great!" and proceeded to hold
ip three grebes, one loon and a
scoter.
Needless to say, that hunting.
trip cost more than the usual.
It proved to me again how little
some duck hunters really know
about . the species they're hunting.
I like the philosophy of Henry
Forbush, who wrote is 1912,
"Alive, they belong to all the
people, and give pleasure to all
who h a v e the opportunity to
watch their particular" :notions
and antics. Dead, they are the
property of the hunter, and are
valueless —."
To those not well acquainted
vyith birds; it is interesting to
note they have a family tree
much like you and I and like
every living thing, it has its place
in the story of evolution. We are
told that birds evolved from the
reptiles and in this chain t h e
grebes are among the l o w e s t
forms of bird fife.
Now, if this were one of us,
we would not breathe a word of
it to a soul for we would surely
be ashamed of our lowly posi-
tion. Mr Grebe, on the contrary,
seems well content with his posi,-
fion and has adapted himself to
his particular way of life es-
tre rely well.
Because his life is made up of
swimming and diving, his feet
and legs are particularly we I 1
suited for the job. They a r e
placed further back on the body
than most birds. So far back
that it is all but impossible for
them to walk about and when
they do they flounder along on
their breast using wings and feet
for propulsion.
Their place in life is an the
water — not an land, and so
whenever a bird is caught on
land or ice it becomes vulnerable
to its enemies.
The exact opposite can be said
of the grebe's wings. These are
small and weak because they are
used very little, as most nove-
:nent about is by swimming. The
grebes, because of this poorly
developed flight equipment, leave
great difficulty in getting off the
water. To do so requires take-
off into the wind with much pad-
dling along the surface and wing
flapping.
Often I have seen this and have
found the grebes having so much
difficulty in rising that after 100
or 200 feet of walking on the
water, they drop down and dive.
When airborne their feet trial out
behind in the grebe -loon tradition.
Grebes are usually found' in our
area only during the w i n t e r
.nonths and spring and fall mi-
grat'ions. The exception is t he
pied - billed that fregaerits t h e
ponds and lakes. This bird nests
occasionally here on the Island
and I have seen its floating nests
at Water Mill, Montauk and other
isolated, marshy areas.
This nest is made usually of
cattails and debris p 11 e d up
amongst some permanent bushes
or reeds. This floating character-
istic eliminates the possibility of
high and low water problems.
When the youg are hatched they
immediately take to the water
and the nest is no longer used.
The young riding the mother's
back is truly one of Nature's
great sights. Often two or three.
will be paddling about the :pother
while another two or three will
be half- buried in the feathers with
only their' t1hy heads protruding.
They can dive and swim from
the moment they touch the water,
continually poSping up as t h e
mother leads them about.
This ability to swim and stay
submerged underwater is Na-
ture's Way of protecting the
grebe. The ability to stay sub-
merged except for the head and
bill has often been observed and
lead's us to .continually wonder
at the marvels of survival Na-
ture has built into her precious
brood.
FIELD OBSERVATIONS
L R Ernest reports:
December 17 at Southampton
1 Short -eared owl
December 18 at Mecox
1 Snowy owl
December 18 at Sevea Ponds,
Water Mill
2 Great blue heron
Judd Bennett reports:
December 22 at East Marion
1 Yellow - breasted chat