Western Grebes have elaborate courtship displays, which involve pairs "running" across the surface of the water together, and presenting each other with aquatic plants.
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Western Grebe
The Western Grebe and Clark's Grebe were considered as a single species until 1985 (American Ornithologists' Union, 1985). Because of this, data specific to Western Grebe only date back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, depending on the source. There are approximately 32,000 individuals in Canada, representing 32% of the global total and a moderate level of responsibility for Canada. The population has undergone little change since 1990 based on the Breeding Bird Survey, but confidence in this assessment is low because of limitations to survey coverage and precision, and conflicting evidence of declines from other sources. Western Grebe was assessed as Special Concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada in 2014 (COSEWIC, 2014), and listed at that level under the Species at Risk Act since 2017, but is currently within its goal range.
Three sources provide insight into population trends of Western Grebe, but all have notable limitations. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) may provide the broadest coverage of the population, but trends for Western and Clark's Grebes are analyzed jointly. Because Western Grebe is more numerous, the large long-term decline in the Western/Clark's Grebe trend suggests that there has been a large decrease in the continental population of Western Grebe, but it cannot be quantified, and it does not distinguish between the Canadian and the larger American breeding populations.
The only other long-term data source is the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), which has medium coverage and precision, and is not optimal for detecting colonially nesting waterbirds. However, that limitation has not changed over time, allowing for medium reliability overall. The Canadian BBS trend shows little change, with current abundance 26% above the level it was at in 1990 when data began to be recorded separately for Western and Clark's Grebes. Although reliability of trends at the regional scale is mostly low, it appears that there has been a moderate increase in the southern Prairies, a moderate decrease in the northern Prairies and parkland region, and a large decrease in southern British Columbia.
The British Columbia Coastal Waterbird Survey (BCCWS) also provides some data, but over an even shorter period and limited to the portion of the population wintering along the southern British Columbia coast. The BCCWS shows a very large decline of 96% between 1999 and 2018, but this may at least in part reflect a southward shift of wintering distribution rather than a change in population abundance (Wilson et al. 2013). Overall, although the BBS trend is the most reliable, confidence in the status of little change is low because of other evidence suggesting a decline, and the lack of data prior to 1990.
The goal for Western Grebe is to remain at or above its average population level from 1970 to 2022, based on the Breeding Bird Survey. Recent data show that the population is within its goal range. This is largely consistent with the objective in the Species at Risk Act's Management Plan for Western Grebe, which aims to maintain the breeding population between 31,000 and 34,000 adults from 2022 to 2032, over a breeding distribution of at least 830,000 km2.
| Designation | Geographic Area | Status | CITATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| COSEWIC | Canada | Special Concern | |
| IUCN | Global | Least Concern | |
| Species At Risk Act | Canada | Special Concern | |
| Wild Species | Canada | Vulnerable |
- American Ornithologists' Union. 1985. Thirty-fifth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union check-list of North American birds. Auk 102:680-686.
- COSEWIC. 2014. COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Western Grebe Aechmophorus occidentalis in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. x + 55 pp. https://wildlife-species.canada.ca/species-risk-registry/document/default_e.cfm?documentID=63.
Western Grebes have elaborate courtship displays, which involve pairs "running" across the surface of the water together, and presenting each other with aquatic plants.
Western Grebe is reported nearly uniformly throughout the year in Canada, with a slight drop in winter when some individuals move south.