Little Grebe

How to identify

Field marks

1. Body short and plump, head small and round
2. Bill small, tail short and bluntly rounded
3. Throat and neck reddish-brown in breeding season, with a bright patch at base of the bill
4. Winter plumage duller, with brown neck

Male, female and young

Sexes look similar, but females may be slightly smaller; immatures resemble birds in winter plumage, but have dark stripes on the face and neck.

Voice

In the breeding season, the call is a continuous, high-pitched, bell-like sound.

Similar species

Black-necked Grebe

May be confused in winter plumage; Little Grebe is smaller with a flatter crown, while Black-necked Grebe has a more peaked crown.

Horned Grebe

May be confused in winter plumage; Little Grebe is smaller with a more bluntly rounded tail, while Horned Grebe has a more pointed tail.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: September–January and March–April · Most records: United Kingdom, Spain, China

Little Grebe has been recorded at 3,382 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 131 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Txingudi – PlaiaundiSpain5,746 records
2. Desembocadura del Guadalhorce – ÁreaSpain5,724 records
3. Beddington FarmlandsUnited Kingdom4,517 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United KingdomSpainChinaIndiaPortugalIsraelJapanGermany

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), also known as the dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek takhus "fast" and bapto "to sink under". The specific ruficollis is from Latin rufus "red" and Modern Latin -collis, "-necked", itself derived from Latin collum "neck".

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

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