Adults: Breeding: Above, very dark brown. Below, silky white. Flanks, mottled with brown and dark grey. Crest on each side of crown, black. Cheek and throat, white. Feathers on side of head elongated into pairs of tippets, or ruffs, chestnut near base and shading to black at the tips. Wings have two white patches, one on secondaries the other on leading edge of forearm. Eye, red. Bill, brown above, carmine below. Feet, above, dark olive green, below, pale yellow, and lobed. Non-breeding: Tippets shortened. Reduced crests and browner crowns.
Immatures: Some stripes on head remain in juvenile plumage. Flying young resemble adults but lack tippets and crests.
Downy Young: Sooty brown above with white stripes on head, neck and back. Bare pink spot on crown turns red when young are excited.
Derivation
Pö'-di-ceps - L., podex (podicis), rump: L., pes, foot (refering to the fact that the feet are usually far back): cris-tä'-tus - L., crested
South-western Australia, eastern and southern Australia, and Tasmania.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 920,000 - 1,400,000 (2010).
Status LC
Modification of lakes for recreational purposes, hydroelectric development and the introduction of competitors and predators are the main threats. It is also susceptible to avian influenza so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the virus.
Habits
Singly or in pairs. Occasionally in large flocks.
Food
Mainly fish, some molluscs and also other aquatic animals and plants.
Voice
Guttural 'kar-arr', shrill 'er-wick'. A 'kee-wick', like the hunting call of the Tawny Owl (Strix aluco). Trumpeting, moaning, whirring noises. Tickling note during head-shaking displays. A loud bark, double-note ushered from cover. Begging call by chicks.
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) [XC540256]
by Hannu Varkki from Thorpe Park, o\/s Thorpe Park (near Chertsey), Surrey, England, United Kingdom (begging call)
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) [XC675491]
by Luca Forneris from Oudewater, Oudewater, Utrecht, Netherlands (call)
Nest
A flat, floating platform of green rushes, reeds, and other waterplants, moored to rushes or the branches of a floating tree, usually just above the surface of the water, frequently quite wet.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 7; white or pale green, but dulled by stains; oblong-oval; about 55 x 35 mm. Incubation: 22 - 29 days; by both sexes.
Young
Precocial, semi-nidicolous.
Subspecies
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
cristatus (Linnaeus, 1758) - In Palaearctic. Winters in coastal zones, mainly in south of range.
infuscatus Salvadori, 1884 - Scattered populations in east, southern and west-central Africa.
australis Gould, 1844 - South-western and south-eastern Australia, Tasmania; South I (New Zealand).
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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