Schiess: Red-necked Grebes battle for a mate on Henry’s Lake

It was an epic battle – two fishermen fighting over the same fishing water on Henrys Lake. An underwater attack by one, grabbing its opponent’s foot while it was trying to beat a hasty retreat, created froth on the surface.

The combatants were not humanoids, but two Red-necked grebes, and the fight was actually not over fishing space, but over a female. After the female chose the male she wanted, side by side the two attack the lonely male – what a downer. At that junction the fight ended and the rejected male swam off looking for another female.

The couple sounded off as the heart-broken male disappeared in the reeds. Whether it was a victory song, a love sonnet or a bullying chant I do not know, as I do not speak Grebeish. But whatever it was the couple exchanged wedding vegetation and began building a nest in the nearby reeds.

These grebes are very active parents with some very interesting habits. They build floating nests in aquatic plants, anchoring the nest onto reeds or cattails. This may be the reason most are located on the west side of Henry’s Lake, because of the heavy waves that pound the east and north shores where the nests can be destroyed by rough water.

A pair will nest up to five times if the nest is lost, but will usually raise one brood of two or three chicks each year. Both adults hunt underwater by sight to locate minnows, sculpins or other aquatic animals to feed their young. To escape danger, the babies will climb on the backs of the parents, grabbing the adult’s feathers with their bills during a dive to avoid the enemy.

These birds eat large amounts of their own feathers. It is not known why, but the adults also feed their own feathers to their young. One theory is the feathers protect the stomach from the sharp bones of the fish they eat.

Some of their favorite foods on Henrys Lake are the sculpin and chub minnows. The parents are continually feeding the chicks before they are mature enough to hunt and gather their own food.

Many experienced bird watchers have never seen a Red-necked grebe fly; maybe a broken heart will cause them to take to the air. To get away from danger they dive instead of taking flight. When defending their nests or their territory, they use attack-dives coming up under water to attack the intruder from the depths of the lake.

They are thought to migrate only at night, flying to the Pacific Ocean coast to spend the winter.

These beautiful, interesting birds on Henry’s Lake arrive shortly after ice-out and can be observed around the County Boat Dock or near the mouths of Duck and Hope Creeks but are expanding to other areas of the lake.

The pair of Red-necked grebes on Henrys Lake is just two of the 62 adults counted last year during nesting. Several years ago there were 42, showing an increasing population on the lake. The first pair was recorded in 1986 on Henrys but now it hosts one of the largest populations of these rare birds.

There is an estimated population of 45,000 in North America with most of them located in Canada and Alaska. Idaho only has a few colonies with a few picking ponds at the Chester Wetlands and Gold and Silver Lakes on Harriman State Park. The North American population has been declining but it appears the group in Southeastern Idaho, especially Henrys Lake, continues to increase.