Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis)

Abundance:  Rare; 4 Regional records, 1 in each of 2 Kentucky counties and 2 Tennessee counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the population wintering in the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Winter Resident during late fall (1 record) and winter (3 records); photographs (see links below).

Information on Records: 

January 1981 (1) Barren River Reservoir, Allen/Barren counties, Kentucky (fide Herbert E. Shadowen; Stamm 1981b; Palmer-Ball 2003).

6–30 November 2002 (1) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton, Brainard Palmer-Ball photo, m. ob.; Busroe 2003a), photo (9 November 2002, Brainard Palmer-Ball).

12–22/23 December 2009 (2/1) Lake Tansi, Cumberland County, Tennessee (Joseph E. Mast, DJ Stanley, Edmund K. LeGrand photo), a CBC record on the last date.

27 January 2010 (1) Floating Mill Recreation Area, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Michael J. Hawkins, Judy C. Fuson, Carol D. Williams).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Habitat: Large, deep lakes are apparently preferred by this swan-like piscivore, but the record at Lake Tansi shows that it will accept somewhat shallower, smaller lakes as well.

Remarks: Like the Pulaski County bird, the Western Grebe in Barren County stayed 3 weeks (Stamm 1981b; Palmer-Ball 2003); unlike the Pulaski County grebe, the one in Barren County was not photographed, so a conservative approach might consign it to the pool of generic (i.e., Aechmophorus sp.) sightings (see next paragraph).

    An Aechmophorus sp. was noted on Dale Hollow Lake, Clay County, Tennessee, 14 February 2004 (Frank Bills, Sharon Bostick, Ronald D. Hoff, Dollyann Myers unpubl. data).

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited