 Breeding evidence |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Atlas results coming soon
Note: During all years of the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas drought conditions persisted and the Atlas range maps for all waterfowl, waterbirds, and wetland-associated species should be viewed as characteristic of distribution and abundance during dry conditions. Read the full drought statement here.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
Perhaps the most conspicuous water bird of western North America, the Western Grebe is best known for its elaborate and energetic courtship rituals (Storer and Neuchterlein 1992). It is easily confused with Clark's Grebe, which shares similar features, behaviour, and habitat. To compound the confusion, hybrids are known to occur. Its loud "creek creek? call is a characteristic sound of the rivers and larger lakes of Saskatchewan south of the Canadian Shield (Smith 1996). The Western Grebe breeds in lakes and ponds across western North America and central Mexico and winters primarily off the Pacific Coast.
Marshy edges of larger freshwater lakes south of the Canadian Shield are prime habitats for nesting Western Grebes in Saskatchewan (Smith 1996). All water bodies including rivers are used during migration.
The Western Grebe is a fairly common summer visitant and local breeder on larger lakes south of the Precambrian Shield; an exception is the Kindersley-Rosetown area, where these birds appear only as uncommon transients (Smith 1996). Although the breeding distribution is still poorly known, one or more colonies occur on over 40 lakes north to Lac Île-à-la-Crosse and Montreal Lake.
Original text by Robert Warnock. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Western Grebe in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Western Grebe in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=WEGR&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]
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