Little Grebe

Taxobox
name = Little Grebe
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1

---

image_caption = In breeding plumage
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Podicipediformes
familia = Podicipedidae
genus = "Tachybaptus"
species = "T. ruficollis"
binomial = "Tachybaptus ruficollis"
binomial_authority = (

---

range_map_width = 250px
range_map_caption = Distribution of the Little Grebe.

The Little Grebe ("Tachybaptus ruficollis", formerly known as Dabchick) is 23 to 29 cm in length. It is the smallest European member of the grebe family of water birds and is commonly found in open bodies of water across most of its range.

Description

Little Grebe is a small water bird with a pointed bill. The adult is unmistakable in summer, predominantly dark above with its rich, rufous colour neck, cheeks and flanks, and bright yellow gape. The rufous is replaced by a dirty brownish grey in non-breeding and juvenile birds.

Juvenile birds have a yellow bill with a small black tip, and black and white streaks on the cheeks and sides of the neck as seen below. This yellow bill darkens as the juveniles age, eventually turning black once in adulthood

In winter, its size, buff plumage, with a darker back and cap, and “powder puff” rear end enable easy identification of this species. The Little Grebe's breeding call, given singly or in duet, is a trilled repeated "weet-weet-weet" or "wee-wee-wee" which sounds like a horse whinnying.

Taxonomy

There are nine currently-recognized subspecies of Little Grebe, separated principally by size and colouration. [cite book |title=Grebes of the World |last=Ogilvie |first=Malcolm |coauthors= Chris Rose |publisher=Bruce Coleman |year=2003 |isbn=1-872842-03-8]
* "T. r. ruficollis" is found from Europe and western Russia south to North Africa.
* "T. r. iraquensis" is found in southeastern Iraq and southwestern Iran.
* "T. r. capensis" is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and the Indian subcontinent, extending east to Burma.
* "T. r. poggei"
* "T. r. philippensis"
* "T. r. cotobato"
* "T. r. tricolor"
* "T. r. volcanorum"
* "T. r. collaris"

Distribution

This bird breeds in small colonies in heavily vegetated areas of freshwater lakes across Europe, much of Asia down to New Guinea, and most of Africa. Most birds move to more open or coastal waters in winter, but it is only migratory in those parts of its range where the waters freeze.

Behaviour

Little Grebe is an excellent swimmer and diver, and pursues its fish and aquatic invertebrate prey s underwater. It uses the vegetation skillfully as a hiding place.

Like all grebes, it nests on the water's edge, since its legs are set very far back and it cannot walk well. Usually four to seven eggs are laid, and the striped young are sometimes carried on the adult's back.

It does not normally interbreed with the larger grebes in the Old World, but a bird in Cornwall mated with a vagrant North American Pied-billed Grebe, producing hybrid young

Gallery

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

* [http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob70.htm BTO BirdFacts - Little Grebe]
* [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=80 Little Grebe videos] at the Internet Bird Collection