Birdpass
English
Horned Grebe

Horned Grebe

Podiceps auritus

Identify the Horned Grebe by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

  • Download on the App Store
  • Get it on Google Play

The Horned Grebe, or Slavonian Grebe, is a small grebe of the Northern Hemisphere. In the breeding season it has a black head with striking golden “horns” behind the eyes and a chestnut neck and flanks; in winter it is crisply black and white. It breeds on small, vegetated ponds in boreal and subarctic regions and winters on coasts and large lakes. It has declined and is listed as Vulnerable.

Did you know?

  • It swallows its own feathers, which form a plug that protects the stomach from fish bones.
  • The name “horned” refers to its golden head tufts.

About the species

Identification

A small grebe; in breeding plumage the head is black and the neck and flanks rufous, with golden-yellow tufts on the sides of the head. The eyes are red and the bill small, straight, black and pale-tipped. In winter it is black and white, with the black cap sharply bordered against white cheeks. It differs from Black-necked Grebe in its rufous neck in summer, whiter face in winter and straighter bill. The call is a fairly loud, high, purring trill.

Family

Podicipedidae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

black, brown, yellow, red, white

About the habitat

Breeds on small, shallow, vegetated freshwater lakes, ponds and marshy bays; on migration and in winter sheltered coasts, estuaries and large ice-free lakes.

Diet

Aquatic insects and larvae, small crustaceans and small fish, caught by diving or picked from the surface; mostly insects in summer and fish and crustaceans in winter.

Behaviour

A skilful diver that often surfaces to turn larger prey before swallowing it. Pairs perform elaborate courtship displays with head-shaking and “weed dances”. It builds a floating nest among emergent plants and often carries its chicks on its back. It is very vocal on breeding territories with loud, nasal trills. Like other grebes, it eats its own feathers.

Sources

Photo: Ekaterina Chernetsova (Papchinskaya) from Saint-Petersburg, Russia, CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Podiceps auritus (13909539717).jpg

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horned_grebe

See also