Horned Grebes?

[Birding Boy]

Hi all, just like to confirm if possible that the bird on the right in these photos is a Horned Grebe. Sorry for the bad pics, they were quite a bit away. Seen today in southeast M.I. Thanks!

[Phalarope713]

Looks good for Horned. 

[Birding Boy]

thanks!

[Jefferson Shank]

For the amount of black on the head, I think it looks better for Eared Grebe

[Birding Boy]

That's what was throwing me off too, I did consider Eared Grebe as a possibility. More opinions would be great; eared grebe is kinda rare here.

[Lee Justice]

Can we post links to articles? I found a good article discussing the difficulty on identifying distant grebes.

[Birding Boy]

4 minutes ago, Lee Justice said:

Can we post links to articles? I found a good article discussing the difficulty on identifying distant grebes.

Any info'd be great and much appreciated ?

[akandula]

The thick neck and gradual-sloping forehead forming a peak at the back of the head make these Horned Grebes. 

Here's an article by our very own Tony Leukering: https://cobirds.org/CFO/ColoradoBirds/InTheScope/26.pdf

Edited March 17, 2020 by akandula

[Lee Justice]

3 minutes ago, Birding Boy said:

Any info'd be great and much appreciated ?

http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/ID-EAGRvHOGR.html

[Birding Boy]

Thanks for the great article everyone, helps a lot!

28 minutes ago, akandula said:

The thick neck and gradual-sloping forehead forming a peak at the back of the head make these Horned Grebes. 

Thanks, I was focusing too much on coloration and not enough on body shape.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Birding Boy

[birdbrain22]

These are 100% Horned Grebes

[Mindy Smith]

Agree with horned. I recently learned that the horned sit lower in the water than the eared making them look less fluffy. Much easier when they are in breeding plumage. I made a mistake reporting a distant grebe as a horned on ebird and was corrected using this distinction. Attached are pics of both that help with this.