The great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus) is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The bird is characterised by its distinctive appearance, featuring striking black, orange-brown, and white plumage, and elaborate courtship display that involves synchronised dances and displays.

Taxonomy

The great crested grebe was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Colymbus cristatus. It is now the type species of the genus Podiceps that was erected by the English naturalist John Latham in 1787. The type locality is Sweden.

Subspecies

Three subspecies are currently accepted:

The call is a loud barking rah-rah-rah. They can also produce a clicking kek call, and deep growls.

The chicks, like most grebe chicks, have boldly striped heads, with alternating black and white stripes; they are often colloquially called "humbugs" from their resemblance to humbug sweets. They lose these markings as they mature during their first winter.

Distribution

The great crested grebe breeds in vegetated areas of freshwater lakes. The subspecies P. c. cristatus is found across Europe and east across the Palearctic. It is resident in the milder west of its range, but migrates from the colder regions. It winters on freshwater lakes and reservoirs or the coast. The African subspecies P. c. infuscatus and the Australasian subspecies P. c. australis are mainly sedentary.

Behaviour

Breeding

The great crested grebe has an elaborate mating display. Like all grebes, it nests on the water's edge. The nest is built by both sexes. The clutch averages four chalky-white eggs which average in size and in weight. Incubation is by both parents and begins as soon as the first egg is laid. The eggs hatch asynchronously after 27 to 29 days. The precocial young are cared for and fed by both parents.

The great crested grebe and its behaviour was the subject of one of the landmark publications in avian ethology, Julian Huxley's 1914 paper on "The Courtship‐habits of the Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)".

In November 2023, the comedian John Oliver highlighted New Zealand's Bird of the Year campaign in a Last Week Tonight episode and declared himself the "campaign manager" for the bird, which is also known in New Zealand by its Māori name . The bird was announced as the winner of the competition with the alliteration "Pūteketeke pandemonium prevails".

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File:Great Crested Grebe 2025 08 30 01.jpg|Immature great crested grebe holding a caught European perch, La Courneuve, France

File:Молодая чомга (Podiceps cristatus), Коломенское.jpg|First-winter in autumn with traces of juvenile stripes remaining; Moscow

File:Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) (14).JPG|Juvenile with adult

File:Podiceps cristatus juv.jpg|Head of juvenile with characteristic 'humbug' stripes

File:Podiceps cristatus -Hogganfield Loch, Glasgow, Scotland -adult feeding chick-8 (2).jpg|Adult ready to feed its young in Scotland

File:Great crested grebes (podiceps cristatus).jpg|Mating ritual, Otmoor, Oxfordshire

File:Great crested grebe (podiceps cristatus).jpg|Male displaying during mating ritual, Otmoor, Oxfordshire

File:Podiceps cristatus 1 2013.jpg|Podiceps cristatus with nest and eggs, Sweden 2013

File:Podiceps cristatus 2 2013.jpg|Podiceps cristatus family at nest, Sweden 2013

File:Podiceps Cristatus 2015-5786.jpg|Podiceps cristatus, Sweden 2015

File:Australasian Crested Grebe swimming in Lake Alexandrina.jpg|Podiceps cristatus australis, Mackenzie Basin, New Zealand

File:Podiceps cristatus MWNH 0106.JPG|Eggs from the collection of the Museum Wiesbaden, Germany

File:Podiceps cristatus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.38.1.jpg |Eggs from the MHNT museum collection

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References

  • Ageing and sexing (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
  • Great Crested Grebe Species, The Atlas of Southern African Birds
  • Great-crested Grebe at BTO.org