Feather eating???

I saw this behavior a number of times in this pair of grebes with 3 chicks - feeding the chicks feathers.
The chicks coughed, choked, and gagged, but eventually got the feathers down.

any one know the reason for this ? Seems to me it could cause a bowel obstruction.

Sandy r

Grebes and Loons eat mostly fish, many of which have spines or small bones that can do a lot of damage on the way down and in the stomach. Loons swallow small pebbles which grind up the small bones. This habit also unfortunately results in Loons accidentally swallowing lead shot from spent shotguns and results in lead poisoning. Grebes, on the other hand, swallow feathers to line their stomachs and soften the blow from any sharp bones or spines. Great shot, btw!

- Luke

Aha!! Thanks, Luke !!
Nature's pepto bismol!

Sandy

Sandy, I observed this behavior several times this summer in Western Grebes and wondered about it myself so I'm glad to see your post and Luke's explanation. Usually the feather being fed to the chicks was a down feather like this one.

I've also frequently seen adult Pied-billed Grebes swallow feathers while grooming.

Sandy,

I've seen pied-billed, western and clark's grebes eat the feathers and feed them to the young.

Add Red-necked and Horned Grebes, although Sandy and Ron both have much better photos than mine.

Excellent images and very interesting behavior. I love when I learn from you guys!