From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Little Grebe In breeding plumage Conservation status Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1] Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Podicipediformes
Family: Podicipedidae
Genus: Tachybaptus
Species: T. ruficollis
Binomial name Tachybaptus ruficollis
(Pallas, 1764) Distribution of the Little Grebe. Synonyms

Podiceps ruficollis

T. r. capensis with two juveniles in Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India T. r. capensis - Non-breeding plumage- preening after bath in an Indian Lotus Nelumbo nucifera Pond in Hyderabad, India Little Grebes swim together in Singanallur Lake Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu India

The Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), also known as Dabchick, is 23 to 29 cm in length. It is the smallest European member of the grebe family of water birds and is commonly found in open bodies of water across most of its range.

Contents

• 1 Description
• 2 Taxonomy
• 3 Distribution
• 4 Behaviour
• 5 References
• 6 External links

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Description

Little Grebe is a small water bird with a pointed bill. The adult is unmistakable in summer, predominantly dark above with its rich, rufous colour neck, cheeks and flanks, and bright yellow gape. The rufous is replaced by a dirty brownish grey in non-breeding and juvenile birds.

Juvenile birds have a yellow bill with a small black tip, and black and white streaks on the cheeks and sides of the neck as seen below. This yellow bill darkens as the juveniles age, eventually turning black once in adulthood

In winter, its size, buff plumage, with a darker back and cap, and “powder puff” rear end enable easy identification of this species. The Little Grebes breeding call, given singly or in duet, is a trilled repeated weet-weet-weet or wee-wee-wee which sounds like a horse whinnying.

Taxonomy

There are nine currently-recognized subspecies of Little Grebe, separated principally by size and colouration.[2]

• T. r. ruficollis is found from Europe and western Russia south to North Africa.
• T. r. iraquensis is found in southeastern Iraq and southwestern Iran.
• T. r. capensis is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and the Indian subcontinent, extending east to Burma.
• T. r. poggei
• T. r. philippensis
• T. r. cotobato
• T. r. tricolor
• T. r. volcanorum
• T. r. collaris

Distribution

This bird breeds in small colonies in heavily vegetated areas of freshwater lakes across Europe, much of Asia down to New Guinea, and most of Africa. Most birds move to more open or coastal waters in winter, but it is only migratory in those parts of its range where the waters freeze.

Behaviour

Little Grebe is an excellent swimmer and diver and pursues its fish and aquatic invertebrate prey underwater. It uses the vegetation skilfully as a hiding place.

Like all grebes, it nests at the waters edge, since its legs are set very far back and it cannot walk well. Usually four to seven eggs are laid. When the adult bird leaves the nest it usually takes care to cover the eggs with weeds. The young leave the nest and can swim soon after hatching, and chicks are often carried on the backs of the swimming adults.[3]

It does not normally interbreed with the larger grebes in the Old World, but a bird in Cornwall mated with a vagrant North American Pied-billed Grebe, producing hybrid young

References

^ BirdLife International (2008). Tachybaptus ruficollis. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 2008-11-01.

^ Ogilvie, Malcolm; Chris Rose (2003). Grebes of the World. Bruce Coleman. ISBN 1-872842-03-8. 

^ Finn, Frank (1905). "Notes on the nesting of the Indian Dabchick pages=10-17". Bird Notes 4. http://www.archive.org/stream/birdnotes05fore#page/n17/mode/2up. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tachybaptus ruficollis

• BTO BirdFacts - Little Grebe
• Little Grebe videos, photos & sounds at the Internet Bird Collection
• Ageing and sexing (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta
• Grebes of the World by André Konter

Grebes (order: Podicipediformes ? family: Podicipedidae) Genus Species Tachybaptus Little Grebe ? Australasian Grebe ? Madagascar Grebe ? Alaotra Grebe ? Least Grebe Podilymbus Pied-billed Grebe ? Atitlán Grebe Rollandia White-tufted Grebe ? Titicaca Flightless Grebe Poliocephalus Hoary-headed Grebe ? New Zealand Dabchick Podiceps Red-necked Grebe ? Great Crested Grebe ? Slavonian Grebe (or Horned Grebe) ? Black-necked Grebe (or Eared Grebe) ? Colombian Grebe ? Great Grebe ? Silvery Grebe ? Junin Flightless Grebe ? Hooded Grebe Aechmophorus Western Grebe ? Clarks Grebe

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