Pied-billed grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, also known as the pied-billed dabchick, photographed at San Bernard Refuge National Wildlife Refuge, near Galveston, Texas, USA. Identifying the fish species will earn you smug points. (no, I don't know the fish species.)
Question: This North American mystery bird once had a congener, but now it does not. Can you tell me more about that?
Response: This is a Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps. This bird is the sole surviving member of the genus, Podilymbus, since Atitlán grebe, P. gigas, became extinct sometime in 1989. The book, Momma Poc [Amazon UK; Amazon US], by ecologist La Anne Bastille, documents the tragic and extinction of this species.
Here's a fun fact about this species: Podilymbus is a contraction of Latin podicipes ("buttfoot", from podici-, "rump-" + pes, "foot") and Ancient Greek kolymbos ("diver"). So this cute little mystery bird's scientific name means "buttfooted diver." Who says scientists don't have a sense of humour?
Embedded below is a 2 minute radio programme about the pied-billed grebe, thanks to my friends at BirdNote Radio:
You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.
If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.