THE GREBES - Elegant Mating Dancers

A grebe is a member of the order Podicipediformes, a widely distributed order of freshwater diving birds, some of which visit the sea when migrating and in winter. This order contains only a single family, the Podicipedidae, containing 22 species in 6 extant genera.

Grebes are small to medium-large in size, have lobed toes, and are excellent swimmers and divers. However, although they can run for a short distance, they are prone to falling over, since they have their feet placed far back on the body.

Grebes have narrow wings, and some species are reluctant to fly.They respond to danger by diving rather than flying.

Bills vary from short and thick to long and pointed, depending on the diet, which ranges from fish to freshwater insects and crustaceans.

Grebes have unusual plumage. It is dense and waterproof. By pressing their feathers against the body, grebes can adjust their buoyancy. Often, they swim low in the water with just the head and neck exposed.

In the non-breeding season, grebes are plain-coloured in dark browns and whites. However, most have ornate and distinctive breeding plumages, often developing chestnut markings on the head area, and perform elaborate display rituals.

When preening, grebes eat their own feathers, and feed them to their young.

Grebes make floating nests of plant material concealed among reeds on the surface of the water. The young are precocial, and able to swim from birth.

Flamingos and grebes hold at least eleven morphological traits in common, which are not found on other birds. 

Clark's grebes were once thought to a lighter coloured variation or morph of the western grebe rather than a separate species. 

Both parents share in nest building, incubation, and care of the young. The long pair bond that makes this possible is formed and strengthened by elaborate courtship displays, including ritualized preening, head shaking, diving, weed carrying, and rapid water treading with the body in a nearly vertical position. 

MATING DANCE OF THE CLARK GREBES

In nearly all courtship ceremonies, the roles of the sexes are interchangeable. Courtship feeding, where one bird feeds another, is known only in the closely related Clark’s grebe and western grebe . In both species the male feeds the female. Grebe vocalizations include advertising calls, copulation trills, “conversational” notes, and duetting trills.

No wonder the Grebes are also called The Water - Witch! They surely are bewitching beauties!