Red necked grebes with an egg and building their nest

A mated pair of red-necked grebes building up their nest; notice the egg on the left.

I had the good fortune to come across a mated pair of red-necked grebes that were attending to their nest with a single egg.  They were stacking reeds on and around it to build it in height and size.  You can see the farthest right bird with a reed.  The center bird had just placed one.  They would dive and root around for something and bring it up.  The reeds were all dead, probably from last year.  I shot a video of their activities; I am putting it in a compilation I am making on Red-necked grebes.

The female will likely lay another egg within the next day or two, and then more after that, spaced out in a similar manner.  I have never seen more than 3 chicks with their parents, but clutch sizes may range up to nine eggs.  Both parents incubate the eggs and tend to the young.

The eggs hatch asynchronously,  the young being spread apart in age.  The young mature quickly and are feeding independently sometime during the second week.  As you can imagine, the parents are very busy rearing, especially in a large brood.

I have seen about a half dozen red-necked grebe nests now; each looks about the same.  This is the first time I have seen them building the nest, and the first time I have seen an egg.  That was awesome.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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