tags: Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, with baby aboard, photographed on Lake Constance, Kontanz, Germany. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Several people have sent me photographs of birds recently, including one person who sent a penguin mystery bird! The penguin image has mysteriously disappeared, so please do re-send that image. This mystery bird (which is on my life list, thanks to the many pairs I saw in Finland) is the first image provided by a regular fan of the mystery birds feature. Accompanying photographer commentary about this image will be added when it is demystified in 48 hours.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
The photographer writes:
This picture was taken while my wife and I were on a tour of Switzerland, which included a short stop in Constance, Germany. Constance (or Kontanz) is on Lake Constance, a widening of the Rhine River as it flows northwards from the mountains of Switzerland to the Netherlands and the North Sea.
The picture is raw, i.e. no editing, even though the colors of the water are very special.
The Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) breeds commonly in Europe and Asia. The heavily striped and hardly visible baby is on the back of the bird, facing forward. By riding on the parent the bird is camouflaged from predators (and can actually bury itself further into the feather if there is a threat nearby). I was maybe twelve feet from the birds and didn't notice the baby until I used binoculars.
The birds nest is a floating heap of vegetation anchored to other plants and well concealed. A brood typically consists of four birds, which the adults then split up. Then each adult will look after its 'group'.
This adult/baby were right off the dock in the heart of Constance on a beautiful Sunday morning, June 14, 2009.
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Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus: black crest, reddish-brown cheeks, black dagger-like bill.
In Holland, the name is 'Fuut'. It is a 'duck' which dives a lot and has a tuft of feathers at the back of its head.
I forget--did I send you a penguin pic? I took some recently, and I know I sent you a pic of a bird I could not identify (I have since identified it, though), but I cannot remember whether I sent you a penguin pic.
Yes, Great Crested Grebe. A really obvious bird to those familiar with it. (Thank the RSPB for saving the species in Britain).
And don't forget the black-and-white striped chick riding on the adult's back.
What a fantastic photo! Stunning!
Can we have the full-res version?
Ooh, one I know! And one of my favourite birds too.
Great crested grebe, with chick riding piggy back.
cuttlefish: i think that was you who sent that image, and yes, it was a penguin (well, pooh, i've half identified the bird for all my readers!). what other bird pic did you send? well, feel free to send bird pics ...
joshua: i'll ask the photographer and see what sort of arrangement can be worked out. he's very proud of that pic (and rightly so), so i am sure something can be worked out!
Well, yes, a penguin, but what sort? Still a mystery... sorta.
I will look through my shots--I have some nice ones. Question--I have some that are mysteries even to me, and not the best shots (part of why it is a mystery); you tend to have gorgeous shots, so I don't want to send you these for identification, but I am still curious. Any advice? Some, I know, have enough identifying features that a knowledgeable person (which I am not) should be able to make the ID... but I don't want to bring down the aesthetic level of your blog.
I sent the picture to Devorah, and will be happy to send Joshua the jpg file, once I know how to contact him.
Joe Byrnes
LBRoller@verizon.net
feel free to send pics, even less-than-gorgeous images .. i'll help, and i am happy to share with my readers, who love to solve mysteries.