The great crested grebe is a member of the grebe family of water birds. It breeds in lakes and ponds across Eurasia. The white, brown and black bird is the size of a duck. The bird got its Russian name for the tasteless meat with a pungent odor.
The great crested grebe is slightly smaller than an adult duck. The body length is from 46 to 61 cm. It has a thin neck and an elongated straight beak. Its weight ranges from 700 grams to 1.5 kilograms. Males are always slightly larger than females.
The body is well adapted for an aquatic lifestyle: it is streamlined and has a dense plumage. The neck is long and almost vertical. The bill is straight and pointed. The legs are set far back. Males and females are the same color: rusty-red feathers on the sides, a dark cap on the head, white cheeks, and a chestnut-red “collar”, black at the edges. On the crown of the head, there are two long tufts of black feathers — the so-called “ears”.
Adults have a pink bill, and the tips and bases of the mandible are red. The legs are olive green. The birds spend almost all the time on the water. They are excellent swimmers and divers and can cover tens of meters underwater. When alarmed, the grebe dives instantly, without the slightest splash.
It usually nests in water bodies from the end of May, when young reeds appear. The place for the nest is chosen on the water’s edge. The nest is built by both sexes and it floats or rests on the shallow bottom close to the shore. Last year’s stems, leaves, rhizomes, roots, and algae can serve as building material.
There are usually from 4 to 5 eggs in a clutch, less often 3 or 7. The incubation lasts 25–28 days, and both parents take part. Chicks are nidifugous and almost immediately begin to swim. For the first ten weeks, they cannot get food on their own and are fed by their parents first with insects, and then with fish.
The great crested grebe is active during the daytime. Its diet includes fish, aquatic insects, crustaceans, and mollusks. These birds occasionally eat their own feathers. In this unusual way, they protect their digestive system from damage that can occur from fish bones.
The great crested grebe is slightly smaller than an adult duck. The body length is from 46 to 61 cm. It has a thin neck and an elongated straight beak. Its weight ranges from 700 grams to 1.5 kilograms. Males are always slightly larger than females.
The body is well adapted for an aquatic lifestyle: it is streamlined and has a dense plumage. The neck is long and almost vertical. The bill is straight and pointed. The legs are set far back. Males and females are the same color: rusty-red feathers on the sides, a dark cap on the head, white cheeks, and a chestnut-red “collar”, black at the edges. On the crown of the head, there are two long tufts of black feathers — the so-called “ears”.
Adults have a pink bill, and the tips and bases of the mandible are red. The legs are olive green. The birds spend almost all the time on the water. They are excellent swimmers and divers and can cover tens of meters underwater. When alarmed, the grebe dives instantly, without the slightest splash.
It usually nests in water bodies from the end of May, when young reeds appear. The place for the nest is chosen on the water’s edge. The nest is built by both sexes and it floats or rests on the shallow bottom close to the shore. Last year’s stems, leaves, rhizomes, roots, and algae can serve as building material.
There are usually from 4 to 5 eggs in a clutch, less often 3 or 7. The incubation lasts 25–28 days, and both parents take part. Chicks are nidifugous and almost immediately begin to swim. For the first ten weeks, they cannot get food on their own and are fed by their parents first with insects, and then with fish.
The great crested grebe is active during the daytime. Its diet includes fish, aquatic insects, crustaceans, and mollusks. These birds occasionally eat their own feathers. In this unusual way, they protect their digestive system from damage that can occur from fish bones.
