Great crested grebe
The great crested grebe is a large aquatic bird recognized for its distinctive feather crests and a chestnut-colored ruff around its neck, particularly prominent during mating season. This species can be found in various regions, including Australia, Europe, and Africa, and thrives in habitats such as freshwater ponds, marshes, and slow-flowing rivers. Measuring 19 to 20 inches long and weighing between two to 3 1/3 pounds, these grebes are adapted to life in the water, using their webbed feet to expertly navigate and hunt for small fish, mollusks, and frogs.
During courtship, great crested grebes perform elaborate displays, including neck stretching and exchanging aquatic plants. They build nests on floating vegetation, where the female lays one to nine white eggs, which both parents incubate. The young grebes are precocial, able to swim shortly after hatching, and rely on their parents for food until they are ready to fledge around four months old. Although they face some predation from fish and other animals, great crested grebes are not considered a threatened species and can live up to 12 years in the wild.
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Great crested grebe
The great crested grebe is a large aquatic bird named for the crests of feathers which stick up from the top of its head. It also has a ruff, or collar, of chestnut-colored feathers on its neck. The bird's crest and puffed-out ruff are quite visible in mating season. The great crested grebe can be found in Australia, Europe, and Africa.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Podicipediformes
Family: Podicipedidae
Genus: Podiceps
Species: Cristatus
Freshwater ponds, slow-flowing rivers, marshes, reservoirs, and flooded gravel pits are suitable homes for the great crested grebes. These large aquatic birds seek large beds of dense reeds and rushes for shelter and nesting sites. They spend most of their time in the water, since they are awkward on land. They also do not fly very much, except that some birds in the northern part of their range migrate south to sandy coasts and estuaries for the winter months. These migrating birds return north in spring when waters unfreeze so as to raise their young.
Great crested grebes are 19 to 20 inches (46 to 51 centimeters) long from the tips of their bills to their tails, and they weigh two to 3 1/3 pounds (less than 1 1/2 kilograms). Their wings span 23 to 29 inches (59 to 73 centimeters). The plumage, or feathering, on their necks, breasts, and bellies is white. Their backs and other upperparts are various shades of brown. During the mating season, both male and female also have double crests of feathers on the tops of their heads which point backward. Around their necks they grow a ruff, or collar, of chestnut-colored feathers which they can fan out in display.
These aquatic birds spend their days in the water, swimming and diving for small fish, mollusks, and frogs. Using their webbed feet to steer, the grebes can swim great distances underwater as they search for food on the bottom or chase their prey. They also eat insects, insect larvae, and crustaceans. This diet makes the great crested grebe a carnivore or meat-eating bird. These grebes, like other grebes, eat some of their own feathers to aid in digestion. This is similar to people eating certain vegetables and grains to help their digestive systems.
The great crested grebes mate between January and August. They are known for their mating displays in which the male and female face each other and stretch their necks. They then rub their necks and call loudly. They may then tread water breast to breast and shake their heads as they fan their neck plumage. The courting display also includes giving weeds to each other.
The pair builds a nest of weeds on top of the water. The nest may either be on a base of weeds on the bottom of the pond or stream, or attached to the bank, a log, or other weeds. The one to nine white eggs rest on a bed of plants, and they cover the eggs with plants when they leave the nest. Both male and female incubate the eggs, which hatch about 27 to 29 days after being laid. The young may swim immediately but continue to receive food from their parents until they are more fully grown. Fledging, or being able to fly for the first time, occurs by the time the young grebes are four months old. When they first hatch, the young have white heads and necks with black-and-brown stripes, which camouflages them in the weeds. Adult plumage comes after the young molt, or shed, their feathers shortly before winter. Great crested grebes can mate when they are one year old.
Fish, birds, raccoons, turtles, and alligators may prey on the great crested grebe. Their life span is up to 12 years. They are not a threatened species.
Bibliography
Hope, Sydney. “ADW: Podiceps Cristatus: Information.” Animal Diversity Web, 2014, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Podiceps‗cristatus. Accessed 8 May 2024.
Kürthy, Alexander. “Great Crested Grebe - Facts, Diet, Habitat, & Pictures on Animalia.bio.” Animalia, 2024, www.animalia.bio/great-crested-grebe?environment=135. Accessed 8 May 2024.