Sexes alike, male somewhat larger and longer billed.
Adults: Breeding: Above, mid-grey. Below, white. Neck and upper breast, pale buff. Crown and throat, black with overlying narrow white plumes on grey face. Wing, grey-brown with broad white band through middle remiges. Eye, golden yellow (male), ivory (female), finely speckled with black. Bill, black with pale tip. Feet and toes, dull olive. Non-breeding: Top of head plain dark grey. Throat and sides of head, white. Bill, largely pale.
Immatures: Crown marked with black, buff and white. Black spots and lines on side of head. Eye, brown.
Other Names (World)
Hoary-headed Grebe, Dabchick, Hoary-headed Dabchick, Tom Pudding
Locally abundant, but scarce, casual and seasonal in northern Australia and inland. Nomadic and dispersive.
Habitat
Brackish and salt swamps, open and bare lakes, reservoirs, larger wetlands generally, floodwaters, sheltered coastal bays and inlets, especially in winter. From sea-level - 1,000 m. Less likely to be found on small farm dams than Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae).
Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus) [XC586162]
by Marc Anderson from Mount Wood Homestead area, Sturt NP, New South Wales, Australia (call)
Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus) [XC311776]
by Marc Anderson from Sutherlands Lake, New South Wales, Australia (song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
September - March or after rains. One brood person season.
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Nest
Floating raft-like structure, composed of aquatic plants, only a few centimeteres above the surface of the water, attached to reeds, twigs of a fallen branch or other debris. Sometimes in groups of up to 400, 1 meter or so apart.
Eggs (Guide)
5 - 6; chalky pale blue becoming stained with brown; ellipsoidal; about 40 x 28 mm. Incubation: about 21 - 25 days; by both sexes.
Young
Precocial, semi-nidifugous. Cared for by both parents.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with New Zealand Grebe (Poliocephalus rufopectus).
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae), but readily distinguished when in breeding plumage.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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