By Sally Siko

Happy to get a lifer last month in the form of an Eared Grebe!
I’d somehow always missed out on spotting this rare visitor to North Carolina but was finally able to lay eyes on one floating on a small pond in Waves while birding in the OBX.
The range of this species typically stretches from central and western Canada down through the western United States and into Mexico so finding one here in North Carolina was super cool.

Here in NC, (on the rare occasion when we get a glimpse of one) they are usually dressed in their winter plumage – gray below and black above, with those cherry red eyes popping brightly against their black heads and clean white collars.
In summer, they’ll trade the white collar for a black neck, exchange their gray undersides for golden brown, and add wispy golden feathers across the sides of their heads that look kinda like furry ears. These seasonal wardrobe changes give them both of their common names: eared grebe, for the golden feather “ears,” and black-necked grebe, from the black neck.

Migrating eared grebes undergo a truly strange annual cycle of physical changes.
While they fatten in preparation for their fall migration (normally heading south or southeast to coastal California and Mexico or to the Gulf Coast), their digestive organs enlarge and their flight muscles shrink until they can no longer fly.
About three weeks before migration, the process reverses, with flight muscles enlarging and digestive organs shrinking in readiness for their night flights to wintering areas. This process of alternating “atrophy and hypertrophy” occurs three to six times a year in eared grebes.
In fact they’re are actually unable to fly for nine to ten months out of the year – the longest flightless period known for any bird that can fly at all.
Crazy huh?

I don’t know how long this bird will stick around the Tarheel state, but I’ve included a screenshot of the Grebes location in this post just in case you’d like to see it too.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5