Western Grebe

Erika and I found a few interesting birds on 12 April 2021 in Grays Harbor. Western Grebes spend the winter mostly in coastal saltwater from British Columbia to central Mexico. The species can be locally abundant. Birds breed across much of western North America, east to Wisconsin. They breed in parts of eastern Washington. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, however, Western Grebes were slaughtered for their white ventral plumes, which were used to make capes, hats, or coats. Pesticides, oil spills, and gill nets have also caused drastic declines in Western Grebe numbers. If those factors were not enough, breeding colonies are endangered by boat wakes and other human disturbances. In parts of their range, populations have rebounded to some degree from historic low numbers (Laporte et al. 2020). Partners in Flight classifies Western Grebes as a species of conservation concern.