Critters of the Week

Where Spotted: Pony Pasture
Common Name: Pie-billed Grebe
Scientific Name: Podilymbus podiceps
Length: 11.8-15.0 in (30-38 cm)
Weight: 8.9-20.0 oz (253-568 g)
Wingspan: 17.7-24.4 in (45-62 cm)
Quick Facts Courtesy of Cornell Lab

• The Latin genus name for “grebe” means “feet at the buttocks”—an apt descriptor for these birds, whose feet are indeed located near their rear ends. This body plan, a common feature of many diving birds, helps grebes propel themselves through water. Lobed (not webbed) toes further assist with swimming. Pied-billed Grebes pay for their aquatic prowess on land, where they walk awkwardly.
• Pied-billed Grebe chicks typically leave the nest the first day after hatching and spend much of their first week riding around on a parent’s back. They usually spend most of their first 3 weeks on or near the nest platform.
• Pied-billed Grebes are fairly poor fliers and typically stay on the water—although rare individuals have managed to fly as far as the Hawaiian Islands, Europe, the Azores, and the Canary Islands.
• Pied-billed Grebes can trap water in their feathers, giving them great control over their buoyancy. They can sink deeply or stay just at or below the surface, exposing as much or as little of the body as they wish. The water-trapping ability may also aid in the pursuit of prey by reducing drag in turbulent water.
• Like other grebes, the Pied-billed Grebe eats large quantities of its own feathers. Feathers may at times fill up more than half of a grebe’s stomach, and they are sometimes fed to newly hatched chicks. The ingested plumage appears to form a sieve-like plug that prevents hard, potentially harmful prey parts from passing into the intestine, and it helps form indigestible items into pellets which they can regurgitate.
• When in danger, Pied-billed Grebes sometimes make a dramatic “crash-dive” to get away. A crash-diving grebe pushes its body down with its wings thrust outward. Its tail and head disappears last, while the bird kicks water several feet into the air.
• The longest-lived Pied-billed Grebe on record was at least 4 years, 7 months old and lived in California.

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Fiddlesticks at Richmond SPCA

Fiddlesticks is an adorable girl that is looking for just the right home and environment for her. If you’re interested in learning more about Fiddlesticks please contact the Richmond SPCA adoption center at 804-521-1307 or visit our humane center to meet with an adoption counselor and Fiddlesticks.

Age: 5 years, 2 months
Gender: Spayed Female
Color: Black / Tan
Size: M (dog size guide)
ID: 40098986

Adopt Fiddlesticks at the Richmond SPCA

In response to COVID-19 and in order to reduce visitor traffic, observe necessary social distancing and to best protect the health and wellbeing of our staff and members of the public, Richmond SPCA have transitioned to adoptions by appointment only. Please review their adoption appointment process.