The adult Clark's Grebe stands about two feet tall and a wingspan of about forty inches. The Clark's Grebe a duck like bird has a big, long, white necked bird with an elongated yellow bill, red eyes and a dark colored cap that doesn't meet the eyes and the back of its neck is black. The chin of the Clark's Grebe and its gullet, facial feathers and stomach are white. Its back and wings are a very dark brown or black and its feet are positioned near its rear end.
The Clark's Grebe is spotted in the Canadian Provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In the united States the grebe is seen in South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota and Oregon. In Mexico birders see the bird in Baja, California.
As noted, separating Western and Clark's Grebes is not always easy. They usually occur together in the same flocks, and the Clark's Grebe is generally identified by its orange-yellow bill, but the fact that the eye is in the white part of the face, by paler flanks, and by a narrower black stripe connecting the crown with the back. These differences are easily seen on the birds shown at left. There is still much to be worked out between the two sibling species when in an ambiguous plumage.
But for most of the year and under most circumstances, it is easy to pick out Clark's among flocks of Western Grebes by bill color, face pattern, flanks and neck color. Below are two rather typical examples of Clark's Grebes. Where to find a Clark's Grebe in MTY: In Texas the Clark's Grebe is frequently spotted on both fresh water lakes inland and on salt water sheltered bays and the wide mouth of a river where its current meets the sea and influenced by the tides. When the tides are constant many Clark's Grebe nest at Lake San Antonio and arrive in for the winter along the coast beginning in October and staying until the month of March. Often the Clark's Grebe is spotted in the flocks of the Western Grebe.
This large grebe can be reasonably common and widespread in migration and winter, and some will remain through the summer. When nesting, hundreds of pairs can be seen around the north end of Lake San Antonio. Favored winter locales are: Elkhorn Slough and Elkhorn Slough Estuarine Research Reserve, and Moss Landing Harbor
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