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
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) [XC311776]
by Marc Anderson from Sutherlands Lake, New South Wales, Australia (song)
Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus) [XC611418]
by Marc Anderson from Mount Wood Homestead area, Sturt NP, New South Wales, Australia (call)
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).
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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BirdLife International Species Factsheet