Horned grebe

Voice

On the breeding grounds a high, nasal, vibrating dje-djeeerr, often in duet and accelerating into a rattling trill, along with a short shrill eek. In winter it is virtually silent, so the voice belongs to April to June in the north, at small lakes and bog pools.

Identification

Small and compact, with a flat crown peaking behind the eye and a straight bill with a pale tip. Breeding birds have a rufous neck and flanks, a black head with broad orange-yellow supercilia flaring back as horns, and a red eye. In winter it is clean black and white: a sharply cut, snow-white cheek, a black cap ending above eye level and a white neck.

Confusion species

Black-necked Grebe is the only real pitfall. Slavonian is settled by the straight, pale-tipped bill, the flat crown with its peak behind the eye and the clean-cut white cheek; Black-necked shows a fine uptilted bill, a high crown peaking in front of the eye and a smudgy grey cheek. The neck is whiter on Slavonian.

Habitat

Breeds on shallow, fish-rich lakes and pools with marginal vegetation in the boreal zone, Iceland and Scotland. Winters at sea, on sheltered bays, sea arms, harbours and estuaries with calm water, diving close inshore for shrimps, small fish and aquatic insects.

Range and movements

Breeds in Iceland, Scotland, Fennoscandia and the Baltic region. In the Netherlands it is a scarce winter visitor to the Grevelingen, the Veerse Meer, harbours along the Wadden Sea and the IJsselmeer, usually singly. In Spain small numbers winter along the Cantabrian coast and in the Galician rias, while inland records are rare.

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

Where and when to look

November to February in calm, clear weather, when the water is mirror-flat and a small black-and-white grebe stands out at once. Work harbour moles, locks and the sheltered shores of the Grevelingen and the Veerse Meer, scanning from the dyke in the morning before the wind gets up.

Conservation status

Assessed as Vulnerable after sharp declines in Iceland and Scotland. Fish stocking, predation by American mink and gulls, fluctuating water levels and the loss of marginal vegetation hit the breeding sites. In the wintering areas oil pollution and drowning in gill nets add to the pressure.