Birdsong field guide
Atitlan Grebe
Podilymbus gigas
The Atitlan Grebe was a large, flightless waterbird endemic to Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, that was declared extinct in 1990.
What it sounds like
Loud, resonant, and low-pitched nasal notes resembling 'wuck-wuck-wuck' or 'cow-cow-cow', similar to the Pied-billed Grebe but deeper.
Reference call, compare with what you heard
No reference call found yet · Xeno-canto
Field notes
- It evolved from the Pied-billed Grebe but grew to twice the body mass and lost the ability to fly.
- The introduction of invasive Largemouth Bass in 1958 decimated the grebe's food supply and killed its chicks.
- A major 1976 earthquake created underwater fractures that lowered the lake level, destroying critical reed-bed nesting sites.
- Conservationist Anne LaBastille led a decades-long effort to save the species, which peaked at approximately 400 individuals in the 1960s.
- Hybridization with the colonizing Pied-billed Grebe further diluted the remaining gene pool before the species vanished completely.
Habitat
Dense reed beds of Typha and Scirpus along the margins of a deep, high-altitude volcanic lake.
Range
Endemic to Lake Atitlán in the highlands of southwestern Guatemala.
Similar & commonly confused birds
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