grebe

/greeb/, n.

any diving bird of the family Podicipedidae, related to the loons, but having a rudimentary tail and lobate rather than webbed toes. Cf. great crested grebe, pied-billed grebe.

[1760-70; < F grèbe < ?]

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Any of about 18 species of diving birds (family Podicipedidae) found in most tropical and temperate areas and often in subarctic regions.

Most species can fly, and some are migratory. Grebes have a pointed bill, short narrow wings, and a vestigial tail. The position of their legs, set at the rear of the body, makes walking awkward. They feed chiefly on fish or invertebrates. Courting or rival males perform elaborate aquatic dances in pairs. Species range from about 8 to 29 in. (21–73 cm) long.

Slavonian, or horned, grebe (Podiceps auritus)

Ingmar Holmasen

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▪ bird

Introduction

 any member of an order of foot-propelled diving birds (bird) containing a single family, Podicipedidae, with about 22 species. They are best known for the striking courtship displays of some species and for the silky plumage of the underparts, which formerly was much used in millinery. The speed with which grebes can submerge has earned them such names as water-witch and helldiver, while the position of the feet near the tail is responsible for the early English name arsefoot, from which the family name was derived.

      Adult grebes range in weight from less than 150 grams (5 ounces) to more than 1.4 kg (3 pounds) and in total length from 21 to 73 cm (8 to 29 inches). They vary principally in bill shape and ornamentation of the head. The group is found on all of the continents and on many island groups as well; however, it is best represented in temperate regions. Seven species each are found in North and South America, five in Eurasia, and three each in Africa and Australia. The species range from conspicuous and gregarious to solitary and skulking.

Natural history

Mating behaviour

      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. These displays may be combined into complex ceremonies such as the discovery ceremony of the great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus), rednecked grebe (P. grisegena), horned grebe (P. auritus), eared grebe (P. nigricollis), and related species or the rushing display of the western grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis). In nearly all courtship ceremonies, the roles of the sexes are interchangeable. The same is true of the precopulatory displays, and reverse mounting has been reported for all species that have been thoroughly studied. Courtship feeding, where one bird feeds another, is known only in the closely related Clark's grebe (A. clarkii) and western grebe (A. occidentalis). In both species the male feeds the female. Grebe vocalizations (vocalization) include advertising calls, copulation trills, “conversational” notes, and duetting trills. In the courtship of more secretive species, such as the pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) and the dabchicks (a name given to several of the smaller grebes in genus Tachybaptus), vocalizations are relatively more important than visual displays.

Nesting

      Following pair formation, grebes build one or more floating platforms of aquatic vegetation. On these mating takes place and three to seven unmarked chalky white eggs are laid. On leaving the nest, adults often cover the eggs with the soggy nest material, and, by the end of the incubation period (usually three to four weeks), the eggs are strongly stained. In most cases the nest is deserted after the young hatch, and the small young spend most of their time on the swimming parents' backs, which they reach by clambering up the adult's foot. On hatching, the downy young are marked with bold longitudinal stripes, though such stripes are rarely visible on the gray young of the western grebe. Remnants of the head stripes are carried over into the juvenile plumage. In addition to the stripes, the young have either one or more patches of rufous down or a bare spot on the crown. The skin of the latter changes in colour from pink to red when the young become excited.

Habitat selection and food habits

      Grebes breed on still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water. The dabchicks and the pied-billed grebe are most numerous on small waters with much emergent vegetation, the western grebe on large bodies of open water. Some species winter on sheltered coastal waters. Grebes' diets are made up almost entirely of animal matter. The western grebe feeds largely on fish, the eared grebe on small invertebrates, and the pied-billed grebe takes many heavy-bodied crustaceans. Other species, such as the horned and red-necked grebes, have more varied diets. Grebes are noted for swallowing feathers (feather), which form a plug in the pyloric pocket of the stomach and effectively filter material passing to the intestine. Adults feed feathers to the young, establishing this plug shortly after hatching. Grebes feeding on invertebrates containing much chitin regurgitate pellets rather frequently; fish eaters tend to maintain masses of feathers in the main portion of the stomach, presumably to hold fish bones until they are digested.

Form and function

 Grebes can be distinguished by their lobed toes with flat nails, greatly reduced tail feathers, and satiny breast feathers. The last is due to the relatively loose structure of the feathers on this part of the body and to spirally coiled barbules (the secondary branches of the feathers), which lie parallel to the barbs (the primary branches). As with most diving birds, the conspicuous features that distinguish species from one another are found on the head and figure prominently in courtship.

      In winter plumage, most grebes are brown, black, or gray above and white or light brown below. In summer plumage, rufous, buff, black, or white markings or elongated plumes are found chiefly on the head and neck, and the males tend to be more brightly coloured and have somewhat longer plumes than the females. The males also tend to be larger and larger-billed than the females.

      Grebes' wings (wing) are short, and the wing bones are small in diameter. Some species nesting in cold regions are migratory, and major flights are usually made at night. One species, the short-winged grebe (Rollandia micropterum) of Lake Titicaca, between Peru and Bolivia, is flightless; two others, Taczanowski's grebe (Podiceps taczanowskii) of Lake Junín, Peru, and the giant pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus gigas) of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, have somewhat reduced wings and fly little, if at all.

      While on the surface, grebes usually swim with alternate strokes of the feet. Underwater, the feet move simultaneously. Between recovery and power strokes, the feet are turned 90° so that the broad side can be used for propulsion; just before the recovery stroke, the feet are rotated in the opposite direction. While resting, grebes keep one or both feet shipped under the wings, and the head is kept forward with the bill under the neck.

Evolution and paleontology

      Grebes are ancient, highly specialized diving birds with no obvious close relatives, living or fossil. The earliest fossil is possibly Neogaeornis wetzeli, a diving bird that dates back to the Late Cretaceous Epoch (about 80 million years ago) of Chile. Statements to the effect that N. wetzeli was “primitive” or “reptilian” are erroneously based on a superficial resemblance to the toothed Hesperornithiformes (see Hesperornis), an order of birds from the Cretaceous Period (146 million–65.5 million years ago). In addition, a fossil grebe, Podiceps oligoceanus, uncovered from late Oligocene deposits (about 25 million years ago) in Oregon, bears many similarities to modern species.

Taxonomy

      Grebes comprise a single family, Podicipedidae, of the order Podicipediformes. There are approximately 22 species, usually placed in five genera: Aechmophorus (the western grebe), Podiceps (most species), Podilymbus (the pied-billed grebes), Rollandia (Rolland's and short-winged grebes), and Tachybaptus (dabchicks).

      The order and family are defined on the basis of structural features, especially the form of the nostrils, the absence of certain processes in the skull, and the absence of the ambiens muscle in the leg. The knee process consists of a large pyramidal patella (kneecap) and a large projection on the tibia (the main bone of the lower leg). The wing is diastataxic (that is, there is a space where the fifth secondary feather is located in many birds), with 12 primaries, seven of which are attached to the metacarpus (midhand). The oil gland is tufted and has two openings. Only the left carotid artery is present. The intestinal caeca (blind pouches) are small.

      The names Colymbus, Colymbidae, and Colymbiformes were formerly applied to the grebes in North America and to the loons (loon) (Gavia) in Europe.

Robert W. Storer

Additional Reading

K.E.L. Simmons, “Studies on Great Crested Grebes,” The Avicultural Magazine, 61:3–13, 93–102, 131–146, 181–201, 235–253, 294–316 (1955), is a classic study of grebe behaviour. Several articles by the same author are instructive: R.W. Storer, “The Behavior of the Horned Grebe in Spring,” Condor, 71:180–205 (1969), containing comparative material on several species, “The Patterns of Downy Grebes,” Condor, 69:469–478 (1967), concerning the colour patterns of grebe chicks, “Courtship and Mating Behavior and the Phylogeny of the Grebes,” Proceedings of the XIII International Ornithological Congress (1963), pp. 562–569, and “Evolution in the Diving Birds,” Proceedings of the XII International Ornithological Congress (1960), pp. 694–707, providing insight into the evolution and classification of grebes.Robert W. Storer Ed.

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