Recently I posted an image of a Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) that prompted one reader to comment that the grebe looked like a “poorly drawn duck.” Now I’ll admit that the shape and proportions of a grebe are a bit unusual, but I was sure that with the right angle and lighting I could manage to take a beauty portrait of this little bird. I’m not sure that I succeeded fully, but I don’t feel at all uncomfortable characterizing the bird in this image as a “pretty grebe.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
They are pretty birds, and I like this one’s attentiveness to you. I managed to get to water yesterday, and found what I think was a grebe couple. The pied-bill male’s easy, but sometimes juveniles/females fool me. More research is required!
Thanks. I think portraits are generally more effective when the subject is looking at you. Identifying juvenile birds and birds in non-breeding plumage are two of my biggest challenges in bird identification.
Pretty Grebe indeed 😊