Pied-billed Grebe

How to find it

In the northern wetlands, look in early morning or late afternoon, when the birds are feeding. Scan calm lagoons, floating plants and marshy edges. A slow boat tour along the marsh edges is the suggested way to search. Listen as well, because the far-carrying calls are often heard before the bird shows itself. Since it dives and surfaces some distance away, keep watching the water around where it vanished. The Medio Queso marshes near Los Chiles are also listed as a target for birding tours.

How to recognise it

It is about teal-sized, with a dark eye and a thick, pale bill.

Breeding adults have a black throat and a black ring around a white bill, which gives the bird its name. Outside the breeding season the throat, eye ring and bill turn dull whitish, so a bird in this plumage looks plainer.

Young birds are the most striking, with bold black and white head stripes and a buff patch on the crown.

The body is stocky and the neck short, the clues that separate it from a duck.

What it sounds like

Recording: watertype, CC0 1.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This grebe rarely flies. It can trap air in its feathers to control how high it floats, so it can sink out of sight when alarmed. In Costa Rica, when frightened, it dives and comes up again some distance away.

The nest is a floating mass of plants with a shallow dip on top. It looks like the Least Grebe's nest but is larger. Breeding happens nearly all year here. The female lays 5 to 7 white eggs with brown spots, and the parents cover them with nest material when they leave.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives in the lowlands and middle elevations on both slopes, especially in Guanacaste, the Río Frío region and the Central Valley. One Costa Rican bird site calls it widespread but uncommon in lakes and lagoons up to about 1500 m elevation.

It uses freshwater ponds and lagoons, and slow rivers that have water plants. Across its range it favours freshwater wetlands with emergent plants such as cattails.

When to see it

A lodge in the northern wetlands says the grebe is not migratory in Costa Rica and can be seen there all year. It names December to April as the best months, when water levels are lower.

Similar birds

The Least Grebe is the other resident grebe on the Costa Rican list, and the Pied-billed is the larger of the two. The Least Grebe is all dark gray with striking yellow eyes and a sharp black bill. The Pied-billed has dark eyes and a chunky two-toned bill. Beginners may also take it for a duck, but the stocky body and short neck mark it as a grebe.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rican names for this bird include gallardo, patillo de agua, pico pinto and zambullidor piquipinto. The AOCR name is Zambullidor Piquipinto.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list codes it R,M?, meaning resident and possibly a migrant.

Photography tips

Early morning and late afternoon, when the birds are feeding, are the times to try. A slow boat along calm marsh edges and floating plants gives the best chance, and watching the water where a bird has just dived helps you be ready when it resurfaces.