The eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) is an aquatic, largely halophilic, species that inhabits open waters of the western half of North America (Jehl 1988, Grinnell and Miller 1944). A diving bird, it feeds primarily on benthic invertebrates (cramp and Simmons 1977, Winkler and cooper 1986, Jehl 1988, roberts et al. 2013) but also gleans invertebrates from the water surface (fjeldså 1981). eared Grebes
breed colonially in large freshwater lakes and marshes throughout the western United States and canada, but at other life stages are uniquely adapted to use water of high salinity (Boe 1994, ryser 1985). immediately after breeding, eared Grebes migrate to large inland saline lakes with abundant food sources, where they congregate and molt, becoming flghtless (Jehl 1988, ryser 1985, cogswell 1977). once the molt has ended and food resources are exhausted (between october and february), large numbers of eared Grebes depart these inland saline lakes and spend the remaining winter months in open ocean (Jehl 1988). The species overwinters primarily in the Gulf of Mexico (Jehl and McKernan 2002), but coastal waters the entire length of california—including the channel islands (Howell 1917)—may host large wintering populations as well (Grinnell and Miller 1944). At Mono lake, a large saline lake in eastern california, eared Grebes feed on brine shrimp (Artemia monica) and brine fles (Ephydra hians), the latter often gleaned from the emergent bases of tufa towers (Jehl 1988). Here, i report a previously undescribed terrestrial gleaning behavior on a sandy ocean beach.