Do Western Grebes Run on Water? Yes They do!

Run on water! Yes western grebes run on the water! Many grebes have elaborate courting rituals, weed dances, face to face smootches and chasing each other but no other grebe that I have witnessed runs on the water or what is termed “rushing”.

This behavior can be watched in April in May with my personal best experiences being late April into early May. These birds gather in groups near nesting territory…floating patches of weeds and weed bogs in large lakes of Western Minnesota on north and west for the most part. According to The Cornell lab they will also nest in Iowa and Wisconsin.

If you are a birder you need to see this behavior. You won’t forget it! Though most easily seen from a boat you can spy them from shore as well. Small groups of them 2,3,4 will appear rather agitated right before they start to run on the water. If you see odd behaviors in small groups get ready because it’s about to happen.

The westerns will run more than 100 feet at times giving those with a camera a lifetime opportunity to capture the moment as I have in the images below.

In Minnesota Lake Osakis is famous for westerns and many lakes in North Dakota within driving distance of Fargo also harbor large populations of western grebes.

Now go!

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