Hi Dennis,

I later posted that the consensus on the Birdforum swung back to
Western Grebe.

Thanks for your erudite input. Always appreciated.

Robert Pisano / Seattle


On Feb 17, 2008, at 1:20 PM, Dennis Paulson wrote:

> Robert Pisano wrote:
>
> Looks like the consensus on the International "BirdForum" is for male
> Hooded Merganser, with a nod or two for "grebe spp".? Sorry, Kelly, but
> I think this diagnosis is still "open"
>
> Robert / Seattle
> ------------------
>
> I never wrote about this bird, because I thought Gary Shugart's first
> post on the subject put the answer out there clearly enough.
>
> The bird is (was?) a Western or Clark's Grebe, unless there is an
> undescribed species out there with the characteristics of one of these
> birds. There is nothing else with wings marked like that, and,
> contrary to the impression one gets from David Sibley's guide, both
> species of Aechmophorus grebes appear to vary similarly in the amount
> of white in their wings (wing specimens in the Burke Museum). Both are
> surprisingly variable, from almost no white to a long white stripe.
>
> The feet hanging way behind the tail could belong to nothing else but
> one of these grebes, which have feet that are black on one side and
> yellow on the other. The white on the back looks clearly to me like
> the long white neck of a Western/Clark's Grebe somewhat twisted
> around.
>
> Sorry there is no comparable photo of a duck on the web, but if you
> look at photos of ducks in flight, you'll see that their feet don't
> stick out beyond their tails, and even if you pulled all the tail
> feathers out, the toes still wouldn't project much beyond the tip of
> the tail coverts. A grebe's feet, on the other hand, including most of
> the tarsus, stick way out beyond the almost nonexistent tail in
> flight.
>
> No offense to the International Bird Forum, but I see nothing about
> that photo that would make me think it was a Hooded Merganser!
> -----
> Dennis Paulson
> 1724 NE 98 St.
> Seattle, WA 98115
> 206-528-1382
> dennispaulson at comcast.net
>
>
>
>
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