Isn’t it wonderful that birds that are so different in appearance can get along so well? Why is it that we find it so difficult to do the same?
I spotted this Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) and Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) swimming together on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was immediately struck by the diminutive size of the Ruddy Duck—I somehow had the mistaken impression that Pied-billed Grebes were smaller than all ducks.
I decided to include separate images of the two species that I captured earlier in January to give you a better look at them. The color of the water in each of the three shots gives you an indication of what the weather was like on the day when they were taken. It has been a really variable month weather-wise, with almost as many days above 50 degrees (10 degrees C) as below freezing and barely a trace of snow.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Interesting, thanks. I’ve always assumed the same thing. 😀😀
Nice Mike! They are fun to watch & photograph!
At this time of the year, Reed, I can see lots of ducks on the water, but most of the time they are so far away that I can barely identify them.
Great photos, Mike. I wish I had an answer for your opening question.
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; job 12:7
One of my most favorite verses!
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Thanks for sharing the verse, Mitzi. I don’t think that I would have been able to identify it as being from Job. 🙂
Oh! Lol! It is on my fb page. 🙂
In observing the birds that come to our feeder, I have observed same species cling together while running off intruders not to their liking. That makes me think they are not unlike us humans.
So true. I am amazed when a group of small birds will chase off larger birds, like blackbirds or crows fighting off an eagle, for example.
Peaceful together 🙂
Love that little yellow beak!
Pied-billed Grebes have such strange little beaks, which are quite different from those of ducks.