Striking plumage and an elaborate courtship dance make the great crested grebe a remarkable sight on our canals.
Great crested grebe dive to escape predators, as well as to hunt prey.
Great crested grebe facts
Scientific name: Podiceps cristatus
Family: Podicipedidae
Diet: Mainly fish, but also small crustaceans, insects, frogs and newts
Predators: Mink, foxes and large fish target grebe chicks and eggs
Size: 46-51cm with 85-90cm wingspan
Weight: 1.1kg
Lifespan: 10-15 years
About great crested grebe
The largest of our grebes, the great crested grebe strikes a regal figure on our waters. They’re widespread and common in the UK today but were once hunted to near extinction for their beautiful feathers.
Great crested grebe and our canals
Great crested grebes make their homes in a large range of habitats, including our canals, rivers and reservoirs. There are 4,900 breeding pairs in the UK, and the population swells in winter to 18,000 when migrants fly south.
How to identify a great crested grebe
Great crested grebe
Slightly bigger than coots, the great crested grebe has an impressive plume on their head, a dark cap and body and white cheeks and neck. They develop an orange ruff around the neck during the breeding season, and their cheeks turn red-brown in summer. Like other grebe species, their legs are far back on their bodies – making them strong divers but clumsy on land.
Both sexes look alike, but females are slightly smaller than males. Chicks have distinctive zebra-like stripes on their heads and necks, with grey-brown bodies.
What do great crested grebes eat?
As diving waterbirds, great crested grebes hunt for food beneath the water. They largely eat small fish and aquatic invertebrates but can also feed on small frogs and newts.
How do great crested grebes breed?
Great crested grebes have an elaborate courtship. It’s impressive to watch them rise out of the water, shake their heads and fluff out their feathers in a synchronised dance. Once they’ve attracted their mates, grebes will build their floating nests from aquatic vegetation and defend it fiercely.
Females lay up to four eggs, incubated by both parents, which hatch after about four weeks. These young grebes are able to swim and dive but often are seen catching a lift on their parents’ backs.
Great crested grebe with chicks
Where do great crested grebes live?
Great crested grebes are found amid the reeds of our canals, rivers and reservoirs. They’re one of our most common species and are found across the UK. With legs unsuited for walking on land, they spend most of their time on the water.
Look for the distinctive plumage and orange ruff of the great crested grebe in shallow and sheltered waters. During the winter, they might be more likely to inhabit coastal areas. But from early spring, you’ll start to see them performing their elegant dances on our canals.
What sound does a great crested grebe make?
Great crested grebes make guttural grunts, loud squarks and honks that can sometimes be mistaken for a goose.
Audio: David Darrell-Lambert / xeno-canto.org
Threats to great crested grebes
Once hunted for their exquisite feathers, the UK population of great crested grebes was nearly wiped out and reduced to as few as 32 pairs. However, conservation efforts from the mid-19th century improved populations, and numbers have been stable since 1996.
