Western Grebe

Aechmophorus occidentalis (Lawrence 1858)

Phil Myers, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor cc-by-nc-sa-3.0

Aechmophorus occidentalis (Western Grebe) is a species of birds in the family grebes. They are listed as of special concern by COSEWIC. They are associated with freshwater habitat. They are native to The Nearctic. They are diurnal. They have parental care (occasionally breeds cooperatively). They rely on drag powered swimming and flight to move around.

URI: https://eol.org/schema/terms/special_concern
Definition: may become threatened or endangered because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats
Source: https://species-registry.canada.ca/index-en.html#/species

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URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000873
Definition: A biome that applies to the freshwater realm.

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URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q737742
Definition: one of the eight terrestrial ecozones constituting the Earth's land surface
Attribution: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecozone_Nearctic.svg

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URI: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q906470
Definition: animal behavior characterized by activity during the day, with a period of inactivity at night.

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URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/occasionalCooperativeBreeding
Definition: The species has been known to breed cooperatively, with nonparents providing care.
Attribution: Richard M. Sibly, Christopher C. Witt, Natalie A. Wright, Chris Venditti, Walter Jetz, and James H. Brown. 2012. Energetics, lifestyle, and reproduction in birds. PNAS 109(27):10937-10941, doi:10.1073/pnas.1206512109

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URI: https://eol.org/schema/terms/drag_based_swimming
Definition: Drag swimmers use a cyclic motion where they push water back in a power stroke, and return their limb forward in the return or recovery stroke. When they push water directly backwards, this moves their body forward, but as they return their limbs to the starting position, they push water forward, which will thus pull them back to some degree, and so opposes the direction that the body is heading. This opposing force is called drag. The return-stroke drag causes drag swimmers to employ different strategies than lift swimmers. Reducing drag on the return stroke is essential for optimizing efficiency.

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URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/NBO_0000367
Definition: self-propelled movement of an organism from one location to another through the air, usually by means of active wing movement

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EOL has data for 50 attributes, including:

Body symmetry
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/body_symmetry
- Definition: overall repetitive or reflective pattern in the body of one individual of this taxon. eg: bilateral symmetry, rotational symmetry, radial symmetry
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bilaterally symmetric
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001324
- Definition: being symmetric about a plane running from frontal end to caudal end (head to tail), and having nearly identical right and left halves
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biogeographic realm
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GAZ_00000071
- Definition: The largest scale biogeographic division of the earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals.
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The Neotropics
- URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q217151
- Definition: one of the eight terrestrial ecozones constituting the Earth's land surface
- Attribution: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecozone_Neotropic.svg
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body shape
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/BodyShape
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bilaterally symmetric
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001324
- Definition: being symmetric about a plane running from frontal end to caudal end (head to tail), and having nearly identical right and left halves
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foraging habitat
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/ForagingHabitat
- Definition: Primary habitat where the species forages during the breeding season.
- Attribution: Richard M. Sibly, Christopher C. Witt, Natalie A. Wright, Chris Venditti, Walter Jetz, and James H. Brown. 2012. Energetics, lifestyle, and reproduction in birds. PNAS 109(27):10937-10941, doi:10.1073/pnas.1206512109
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freshwater
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000873
- Definition: A biome that applies to the freshwater realm.
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geographic distribution includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/Present
- Definition: This organism is known to be present in this location or region. Not exclusive; other regions may also be reported.
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United States
- URI: http://www.marineregions.org/mrgid/united_states
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life span
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0000050
- Definition: A time quality inhering in a bearer by virtue of the bearer's expected maximum age.
- Comment: Ontology Description: http://obofoundry.org/wiki/index.php/PATO:Main_Page Ontology Source: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/pato.owl
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14 years
locomotion
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GO_0040011
- Definition: Self-propelled movement of a cell or organism from one location to another.
- Attribution: [database_cross_reference: GOC:dgh]
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flight
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/NBO_0000367
- Definition: self-propelled movement of an organism from one location to another through the air, usually by means of active wing movement
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native range includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/NativeRange
- Definition: Lists jurisdictions in which a given organism is a member of the undisturbed fauna or flora.
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The Nearctic
- URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q737742
- Definition: one of the eight terrestrial ecozones constituting the Earth's land surface
- Attribution: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecozone_Nearctic.svg
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population trend
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/population_trend
- Definition: i.e., increasing, decreasing, stable, or unknown
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Stable
prenatal development duration
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/PrenatalDevelopmentDuration
- Definition: The duration of the development from fertilized, deposited or implanted egg to hatching/birth. Corresponds to egg incubation duration in oviparous animals and to gestation period duration in viviparous animals.
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21 days
trophic guild
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/TrophicGuild
- Definition: A group of species that exploit the same food resources, and/or use the same feeding or foraging methods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_(ecology)
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vertivore
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/vertivore
- Definition: carnivorous animal which eats primarily vertebrates
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weight
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0000128
- Definition: A physical quality inhering in a bearer that has mass near a gravitational body.
- Comment: Ontology Description: http://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologies/PATO Ontology Source: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/pato.owl
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30.7 g

Known occurrences, collected specimens and observations of Western Grebe. View this species on GBIF

Phil Myers, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor cc-by-nc-sa-3.0

Western Grebe includes 2 children: