Horned Grebe in St. Louis County
2012-06-29

Uncommon in St. Louis County in the Summer season

Record shot of adult Horned Grebe in alternate plumage near mouth of Talmadge River, Duluth Township, St. Louis County, 29 June 2012. Since its apparent extirpation as a breeding species in Minnesota, mid-summer records probably represent non-breeding birds. This individual was first found by Jan & Larry Kraemer and may be one of two Horned Grebes that they saw along the North Shore earlier this month. For additional information on this species decline as a breeding species in Minnesota, please read Janet Boe's 1992 article "A Survey for Breeding Horned Grebes in Minnesota" (The Loon 64:75-78). Despite surveying 76 wetlands with suitable breeding habitat in northwestern Minnesota during June 1991, Boe found only one Horned Grebe -- a single individual at Roseau River WMA on 5 June 1991.

Peder H. Svingen