WESTERN GREBE, COLONEL SAMUEL SMITH PARK, ETOBICOKE, TORONTO, ONTARIO, 7/27/2023 - NEW LIFE SPECIES

   We can ID this grebe as a Western Grebe as follows:

• Long, slender, swan-like, black (nape) and white (front) neck, with a sharp division between the black and white.
• Red eyes
• Black crown which extends below the eye (this distinguishes it from the very similar Clark's Grebe, where the crown doesn't go below the eye)
• Blackish gray upperparts

    The Western Grebe breeds over a large portion of western North America, but winters primarily  along the West Coast.  It is a relatively rare vagrant to Toronto.

   The Western Grebe is a new species to our Photographic Life List. Our ebird Life List now stands at 1,078.