On Monday, a fellow birder discovered a Western Grebe and Pacific Loon at Bufflehead Bay, which is part of Lake Maumelle on the outskirts of Little Rock.
While I have already seen both, I decided it’d be interesting to try and relocate them. I never found the Pacific Loon. But I eventually relocated the Western Grebe at a nearby yacht club.
I’ve now learned there is a debate happening on whether this grebe could actually be a Clark’s Grebe – which would be a first for Arkansas.
Clark’s Grebes have brighter yellow bills with a dark line along the top. The black cap of the Clark’s does not extend down to surround the eye, as it does on the Western, according to All About Birds.
Once considered the same grebe, the Clark’s and Western were separated into two different species in 19985 after scientists learned the two “rarely interbreed (despite sometimes living on the same lakes), make different calls, and have substantial DNA differences,” All About Birds reported.
For now, we’re treating the grebe as a Western. Western Grebes are still rare to Arkansas (typically found west of the state), but birdwatchers typically find one or two within the state each year.
Memos for Me 