Grebes are an "easy" group to get you head around. The entire Order Podicipediformes, the Grebes, contains only 19 species world-wide. We are fortunate to be able to see 6 grebe species on the west coast of California, sometimes at one location such as Bodega Bay, plus the Least Grebe in Texas. In T-T they have only the Least Grebe and the Pied-billed Grebe.
Least Grebes are really small, measuring 8-10" and weighing 4-6 oz. Compare that to the Pied-billed Grebe at 1 lb.! In Trinidad-Tobago the subspecies is T. d. speciosus, with a range that extends south to Argentina and Brazil. Least Grebe is found on fresh water ponds and marshes, and like other grebes they feed by diving for small fish and invertebrates, staying down up to 12 sec. Tachybaptus means "fast diver". Their head and especially the throat gets blacker in breeding plumage, as here. They tend to be resident in the area where they are found, and on Trinidad-Tobago they are not common.
Taxonomy: The 19 Grebe species are sorted into 6 genera. The genus Tachybaptus has 4 species, with the Little Grebe, Australasian Grebe and Madagascar Grebe joining the Least Grebe. Clearly you're going to have to travel quite a bit to see them all. Our Pied-billed Grebe is the only Podilymbus grebe, and Western and Clark's Grebes are the only Aechmophorus grebes. 8 of the grebe species are in the genus Podiceps, including our Horned, Eared and Red-necked Grebes. Worth looking for right now, btw, all are in striking alternate plumage. The other 2 genera are Rollandia (2 South American species) and Poliocephalus (2 species in Australis/New Zealand).
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