Red-necked grebe

The red-necked grebe is a migratory aquatic bird found in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. During the breeding season, it acquires the distinctive red neck plumage, black cap and contrasting pale grey face from which its name was derived. It has an elaborate courtship display and a variety of loud mating calls. The conservation status of its two subspecies is evaluated as Least Concern.

About Red-necked grebe in brief

The red-necked grebe is a migratory aquatic bird found in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. During the breeding season, it acquires the distinctive red neck plumage, black cap and contrasting pale grey face from which its name was derived. It has an elaborate courtship display and a variety of loud mating calls. The conservation status of its two subspecies is evaluated as Least Concern, and the global population is stable or growing. The nominate subspecies P. g. grisegena is found in Europe and western Asia, and P. g. holboelii in North America and eastern Siberia. The adult of the nominate European subspecies is 40–50cm long with a 77–85cm wingspan, average weight 692 g. In breeding plumage it has black cap that extends below the throat, a red neck, pale grey cheeks and a rusty neck. The winter plumage is less defined that that of other grebes; its dark grey cap is darker than that of duskier than duskier grebes. The eyes are dark brown and the long, pointed, pointed eyes are black with a yellow base. The front of the neck is whitish or yellow, the rear of the head is light grey and the hind neck is darker grey and darker. The feet are positioned far back on the body, near the tail, which makes the bird ungainly on land. It dives for fish or picks insects off vegetation; it also swallows its own feathers, possibly to protect the digestive system.

The bird was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1781 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. It is possible that the red- Necked Grebe originally evolved in North American and later spread to Europe, where a change of diet to include more insects helped to reduce competition with its larger cousin. Fossils of the species dating to the middle Pleistocene have been found in Italy. The species name griseus and gena refers to the face pattern of the breeding adult. The medium-large grebe, smaller than the great crested grebe of Eurasia, is less well-known than the western and Clark’s grebes of North America. In a breeding season it has a black cap, very grey cheeks, dark grey back and flanks, white back and white underparts under the back. It also has a pale grey throat, red neck and pale grey back, under the white back, and white back under the yellow base of its beak. The red- necked is a good swimmer, a particularly swift diver, and responds to danger by diving rather than flying. It builds a nest from water plants on top of floating vegetation in a shallow lake or bog. The birds have slightly smaller bills than the American form, although the differences are too small to merit separation as a third subspecies.

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