When I was a child back in the 1960’s, my family watched the Walt Disney program on Sunday evenings, like most families. It was one of the few TV programs that the entire family could watch together. I remember watching a particular show called Waterbirds, a 1952 short documentary film about several bird species who live in water. It featured a few minutes of Western Grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) performing mating displays set to classical music. I remember being shocked and amazed at this natural display. There is no doubt, these early experiences shaped my interest in nature.

Fast forward 50 plus years and I was leading a photo workshop/tour to see, learn about and capture some images of this very bird, the Western Grebe. With the memory of this TV show in my head, we set out to capture images of the “rushing” behavior of the Western Grebe.

The Western Grebe is the largest of the Grebes in North America. It is just over 2 feet long, with a long thin neck and long dagger like bill. They have deep red eyes that stand out against their black cap on their head. They are a true waterbird, spending most of their lives either on or underwater. They are very fast swimmers underwater, which allows them to overtake and capture small fish, which is their main diet. Most of the time they swallow the fish while still underwater. I don’t know the last time you tried eating something underwater, but I find this adaptation amazing.

The Western Grebe is a colony nesting bird. This means large flocks, often in the hundreds, gather in appropriate habitat and nest together. Nesting habitat is usually large stands of cattail or bullrush vegetation. They make floating nests/mats out of last year’s vegetation. Both the male and female help construct the nest. Females lay 4 eggs, which she incubates.

But the images we were trying to capture were the elaborate courtship behaviors of the Western Grebe. Other species of grebe don’t display such complex courtship behaviors, so we were excited. Western Grebes are very vocal birds, giving a loud raspy call that can be heard from a long distance. A male grebe returning to the nesting colony after fishing out in the deep water of the lake, give a loud call. This call is often answered by another male who is already in the colony.

The calling male birds swim towards each other, repeating their calls. As they approach each other one dips their bill into the water then flicks their head spraying a small stream of water droplets to the side. This is just the start of the display. The two bird’s face-off just a foot or so apart from each other, lowering their heads to the water’s surface. They continue to dip their bills in the water and then flick water to the sides. This lasts for a few seconds before they both jump up, mostly out of the water, and they start to run on the surface of the water. This is called rushing. The two, or sometimes more, will run on the surface of the water, with their heads held high and their wings slightly open. Their large yellow feet can be seen slapping the surface of the water. Sometimes the rush goes just a few yards while others last for 50 yards or more. Either way there is a lot of splashing going on. At the end of the rush each bird dives forward, headfirst into the water completely submerged.

During the three-day photo workshop, we witnessed and photographed about 30 rushes. Each and every one was thrilling to see and photograph. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the U.S. to study and capture images of wildlife. He can be followed on www.facebook.com and www.instagram.com. He can be contacted via his web page at www.naturesmart.com.