It is possible that the grebe Michael Hobbs saw was a Western Grebe
that was hatched this year. When I lived in southern Idaho, there were a
large number of Clark's Grebes with Western Grebes. In the spring and
summer, I had absolutely no problem telling the difference. However, when
late summer and fall came around, I had more trouble. There seemed to be a
lot of intermediate birds with eyelines that looked similar to Clark's
Grebes but sides and bills that looked like Western Grebes. The mystery was
solved (at least for me) when I was watching one of those "odd" grebes and
an adult Western Grebe swam up next to it and fed it a fish. In the last
few years, I have noticed that many young Western Grebes look similar to the
Clark's but were being fed by parents that were clearly Western Grebes.
Usually, Clarks's Grebes have white much farther up on the face than these
juvenile Westerns. I have no idea how long they stay in this "intermediate"
plumage; they migrate out of southern Idaho before they change (usually late
September).
In northern Idaho and northeastern Washington, the only
Western/Clark's grebes I have seen have been Western Grebes (they aren't as
numerous here as in southern Idaho). On Friday, October 17, I scanned
Mann's Lake, Nez Perce County, Idaho, and observed about fifty Western
Grebes and no Clark's Grebes. I don't remember seeing any I thought were
intermediate.

At 01:13 21/10/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi Tweets,
>
>Michael Hobbs writes:
>
>>Sorry for the lateness of this report, but last Saturday (the 18th) there
>>was a "funny-looking" grebe in the pond just north of I-90 at the east
>>Ellensburg exit (in the triangle bounded by the interstate, Canyon Rd, and
>>Umptanum Rd). It was a Western/Clark's and really looked most like some of
>>the "intergrades" shown in the Feb. 1995 "Birding". It had definite white
>>lores, and the white on the face seemed to extend to just above the eye
>>(though the white did not extend far above). Also, flank color was
>>indistinguishable from the nearby Westerns.
>
>Michael, what color was the bill?
>
>>Has anyone else seen "funny" grebes in Washington? Is this just normal
>>variation in Westerns? From the date, I assume Clark's is impossible...
>
>Nothing's impossible, Michael: we may even be able to collectively ID your
>grebe, or at least make some good guesses about it. '-)
>
>Michael Price We aren't flying...we're falling with style!
>Vancouver BC Canada -Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
>mprice at mindlink.net
>
>
>

Deb Beutler
Department of Zoology
P.O. Box 644236
Washington State Univerisity
Pullman, Whitman Co., WA
dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu