Among the ring-necked ducks, hooded  mergansers and other waterfowl that have been returning to the Celery Farm by the dozen, pied-billed grebes have been seen on Lake Appert the past few days.

   Although they're not uncommon sightings, grebe are uncommon birds.

  Many people may think that of a pied-billed grebe as some sort of odd-looking duck -- if they think of it at all.

   But a grebe is not a duck. It is a bird of a completely different feather, with paddle-like toes instead of webbed feet.

  As a breeding species, it is endangered in New Jersey.

  As the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection link below notes, "Habitat degradation and destruction resulting from the draining, dredging, filling, pollution and siltation of wetlands are the greatest threats facing the pied-billed grebe population in New Jersey."

http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensp/pdf/end-thrtened/pbgrebe.pdf