Great Grebe
Podiceps major
Huge grebe with a long dagger-like bill, a dark gray head, and long, thin rufous neck. The face is paler gray in the nonbreeding season. Inhabits large open areas of water including large rivers and coastal lagoons. Outside of the breeding season may be found on estuaries and along the coast.
Identification
This is a very large grebe, with proportions more like a goose or a cormorant than a typical grebe. They range in length from 67 to 80 cm (26.5 to 31.5 in) and usually weigh about 1,600 grams (3.5 pounds), but can scale to at least 2 kg (4.4 lb). They are buffy-rufous on the neck and chest, blackish on the back and have a whitish belly. The head is sooty gray with a reddish-brown eye. Due to its size and unique coloration, the great grebe is unlikely to be confused with any other bird, including other grebes.
Taxonomy
The great grebe was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1781 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle, which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Colymbus major in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. Buffon mistakenly believed that his specimen had come from Cayenne in French Guiana. The great grebe is now placed in the genus Podiceps that was erected by the English naturalist John Latham in 1787.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Podiceps major
- Authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Order
- Podicipediformes
- Family
- Podicipedidae
- Genus
- Podiceps
Range and habitat
This species occurs mainly in open waterways. Most birds are seen on low altitude lakes and sluggish rivers (often surrounded by forests), as well as estuarine marshes. While breeding, it frequents the heavily vegetated inlets off of large lakes. Outside of the breeding season, most birds will move to estuaries and bays, usually heavy with kelp (occasionally, they even are seen on the open sea). Non-breeding birds may live along the coasts all year.<p>These birds are widespread and common through most of their range. Much of their native habitat has not been cleared, especially in the southern portions of their range.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
African Houbara
Chlamydotis undulata
Elegant bustard with a long neck and tail. Sandy-brown above and white below with a white crest and pale eyes. Note distinctive black stripe on the side of the neck, which can be erected in a spectacular display. Females are similar, but smaller. Eaglelike in flight with deep wing beats; white patches on the wingtips framed in black are distinctive. Found in desert and semi-desert with low scattered bushes.
Short-bearded Honeyeater
Melionyx nouhuysi
A long, slender honeyeater of subalpine forest and shrubland in western New Guinea. All sooty gray-black plumage with a long tail and a fairly long, curved bill, 2 white tufts emanating from the base of the bill, and a yellow-orange wattle at the back of the eye. Sometimes some white scaling on the belly. Often seen perching on top of bushes. Similar to Sooty Melidectes, but Short-bearded Melidectes is larger and has a white beard. Gives a long, dry chatter.
Common Nighthawk
Chordeiles minor
Camouflaged to blend into daytime roosts. Intricately patterned with gray and brown. Often roosts along tree branches or on the ground. Feeds at night on large insects. Watch for them flying under bright lights at ballgames or supermarkets. Distinctive fluttering flight style, with wings usually held in a V-shape between bursts of flaps and maneuvers to snatch insects. Very similar to Lesser and Antillean Nighthawks; note voice and location of white wing patch close to base of primaries.
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