Eared Grebe is a small, slender-necked waterbird distinguished by its bright red eye and, in breeding plumage, dark body with striking golden “ear” tufts fanning out from the cheeks; in winter it loses these tufts and adopts a gray-and-white appearance. In Arizona, Eared Grebes are one of the most abundant grebe species from late summer through early spring, forming flocks of hundreds to thousands on reservoirs and lakes—including sites throughout Maricopa County and along the Colorado River—where they are easily observed from fall into spring. They breed in colonies on shallow, fish-free wetlands across western North America, and while there are occasional summer records in northeastern Arizona at high-elevation marshes, confirmed nesting within the state remains very rare. Eared Grebes feed almost exclusively on aquatic invertebrates—especially brine shrimp and alkali flies—which they capture by diving and surface-dipping; remarkably, they undergo one of the longest flightless periods of any flying bird each year during their mass staging before migration.
