I got a comment on my flickr account saying that the western grebe photos I posted look more like a clark's grebe. This forced me to do a little research on this as I have never been out west to have to learn to distinguish between these two similar species.
The white lore would suggest a clark's grebe in non-breeding plumage but I have read in several field guides and on-line that western grebes in non-breeding can show this too. The bill on the bird I saw today was definitively olive-yellow and I had good lighting. Is this the main field mark that is making this a Western Grebe to everyone? Has anyone considered this could be a clark's grebe? Just curious to what other's thought process was on this. Thanks. Dave Nicosia -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --