Great Crested Grebe

Voice

Noisy in spring: a far-carrying, harsh ringing kroa-ah or barking krrooh, usually answered by the mate. Young birds beg persistently with a shrill whistling peeuw-peeuw well into the summer. Outside the breeding season the species is almost completely silent.

Identification

Slender, long-necked grebe with a dagger-shaped pink bill and a flat crown. Breeding adults have double black crests and a rufous, black-edged ruff that is fanned in excitement. Winter birds show a clean white face, dark cap and a white line over the eye. Juveniles are boldly head-striped; in flight the white wing panels are obvious.

Confusion species

Red-necked Grebe is more compact, with a yellow bill base and grey cheeks in winter, the dark face swallowing the supercilium. Black-necked and Little Grebes are far smaller and rounder. In winter at sea, birders repeatedly call them divers; divers have a thicker neck and a heavier head.

Habitat

Open, moderately rich fresh water with a fringe of reed or waterside vegetation to anchor the floating nest: lakes, canals, gravel pits, broad ditches and large rivers. In winter also on coastal waters, harbours and large shallow seas such as the IJsselmeer.

Range and movements

Widespread across Europe. Common in the Netherlands on almost any larger water; in freezing weather birds shift to the coast and the Delta. In Spain it breeds on reservoirs and freshwater lagoons throughout the interior and winters in numbers on large embalses and along the Mediterranean coast.

• Resident
• Breeding (summer)
• Winter
• Passage
• dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Where and when to look

For the display go in March and April: two birds swim together, shake their heads rhythmically and sometimes rear up breast to breast with weed in their bills. Early morning, flat calm water, and keep your distance, because disturbed pairs break off at once.

Conservation status

Not threatened, and widespread in the Netherlands, helped by new gravel pits and cleaner water. The problems are wash from recreational boats flooding nests, entanglement in discarded fishing line and botulism in hot summers. Severe winters can cause local mortality on frozen inland waters.