Grebes are consummate waterbirds that really don’t like the land. They lack any recognisable tail, and their feet are set so far back on the body that they cannot walk properly. They build platform nests out of weeds that often float. All grebes dive underwater for food, propelled by their unique feet; each foot is lobed, not webbed. Grebes may look like ducks, but their bills are not flattened, instead quite stout and dagger-shaped. Several grebes have remarkable breeding displays, involving rearing up out of the water with their feet paddling rapidly.
1 GREAT CRESTED GREBE
Podiceps cristatus
Common. 4,300 pairs, 16,500 in winter.
This is the largest of our grebes, with the longest neck and bill. It is handsome when breeding, with red-brown cheeks, a dark double-crest and warm-brown upperparts (pictured). In winter it is whiter, with a thin black crown against a white head and neck. This elegant bird performs a courtship display that has been described as ‘water ballet’. Very young chicks are carried snugly on a parent’s back. The great crested grebe thrives in rivers and canals, amenity lakes and reservoirs, so is more commonly seen.
2 LITTLE GREBE
Tachybaptus ruficollis Common. 5,000 breeding pairs, 150,000 in winter. Not on List of Conservation Concern
The little grebe is only slightly larger than a duckling. It’s shy and dives a great deal, popping up some distance away from where you first see it. It eats fewer fish than other grebes, including insects and their larvae, plus snails in its diet. You see it in sheltered waters: ponds, the edges of lakes, marshes, slow-flowing rivers and canals. You might miss it, were it not for its extraordinary call: a crazy-sounding whinny, a tittering, a little like a pony. It is tailless and plump, with a thin neck and short bill.
3 SLAVONIAN GREBE
Podiceps auritus
Uncommon. 30 breeding pairs, maximum 920 individuals in winter.
Red List of Conservation Concern.
The Slavonian Grebe has a long neck and a white-tipped bill. In its breeding finery, it has glorious chestnut-brown plumage offset by yellow-orange tufts, but it only breeds in lochs in the Highlands. In winter, it is black-and-white, with white cheeks and a black crown (above) and it usually goes to marine environments. If you’re lucky, you might see its spring courtship disp
