Day 68 - Gorgeous Great Crested Grebes

Great Created Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
non-breeding adult.

Hi all today's Day 68 and I have what I think is quite a beautiful bird. Before I do, though, I would like to thank my Dad for getting the beautiful pictures you can see to the right of this text.

The photos here show a Great Crested Grebe which is probably a non-breeding adult that I saw at Bolton-on-Swale lake. His crest is pretty flat as he's just been diving for food and, as you can see in the second photo, quite successfully! The place I saw them is actually where I went to find the Goldeneyes for my Goldeneye post.

Anyway without further ado, here are the   facts:

That's lunch sorted!

• They are the largest of the Grebe family in Europe and they are found across a wide range, from Britain, to Russia.

• The breeding adult that you can see in the links and video below have wonderful feathers on their heads. Their short dense waterproof feathers were used by the Victorians as a substitute for fur. Victorians (again) really liked these things to the point that in the 1860's they'd hunted so many there was only around 50 breeding pairs in the UK!

• Happily, now there are around 5,300 breeding pairs in the UK and they have Green Status.

• As I mentioned above, they are quite a big bird being 48cm in length with a wingspan of around 88cm and they weigh around 1kg.

• They have a lovely elaborate courtship display which you can see in the video below.

• Their chicks are little stripy things which their parents often carry around on their backs which again will be lovely to see.

• As you can see from the picture above, Great Crested Grebes mainly eat fish.

• They are found in a variety of places, Lowland Lakes, Gravel Pits, Reservoirs and Rivers. In Winter they are also found on shorelines.

Here are some links to some more information:

RSPB - Great Crested Grebe

BTO Birdfacts - Great Crested Grebe

BBC Nature - Great Crested Grebe

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.