Aechmophorus clarkii
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Clark's grebe (Aechmophorus clarkii) is a North American waterbird species in the grebe family. Until the 1980s, it was thought to be a pale morph of the western grebe, which it resembles in size, range, and behavior. Intermediates between the two species are known.
This species nests on large inland lakes in western North America and migrates to the Pacific coast over the winter. It maintains local populations year-round in California, Nevada, and Arizona (the Lower Colorado River Valley), as well as in central Mexico.
It feeds by diving for insects, polychaete worms, crustaceans, and salamanders. It performs the same elaborate courtship display as the western grebe. The "Clark" of its common name—and its specific epithet clarkii—honors John Henry Clark, a 19th-century American surveyor who was also a naturalist and collector. The genus name Aechmophorus comes from the Ancient Greek words αἰχμά (transliterated "aichme"), meaning 'point of a spear', and φόρος ("phoros"), meaning 'bearing'; together translating as 'spear point bearer' and referring to the bird's long, dagger-like beak.
In Mexico, it is called achichilique pico naranja (the western grebe... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Clark's Grebe sighting in Channel Islands National Park on a given day, based on 681 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 80th most-seen of the 276 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Clark's Grebe in Channel Islands National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to August, the lowest months. Those are among Channel Islands National Park's wettest months, with about 40 mm of rain a month against almost none in July.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Clark's Grebe sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Clark's Grebe sightings, Channel Islands National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 10%) and Redwood National Park (United States, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Clark's Grebe is recorded against all the birds logged in Channel Islands National Park (681 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
