Range & Distribution
Breeding
Nonbreeding
The Great Crested Grebe is a study in understated elegance — long-necked and sleek in profile, with distinctive rufous-and-black ear tufts and a facial frill that make the breeding adult unmistakable. The white face and foreparts contrast sharply with the dark back and the richly colored head ornamentation, which reaches its most elaborate development in the spring.
The species is celebrated for its elaborate and synchronized courtship display, in which paired birds face each other and mirror head-shaking, diving, and the presentation of water weed — a behavioral sequence that has been studied extensively since Julian Huxley's foundational observations in 1914. Observing this display on a calm spring morning on a lowland lake is among the more rewarding wildlife experiences available in Europe.
Chick-carrying behavior — in which downy young ride on the back of a swimming or diving adult, tucked under the wing — offers some of the most photogenic family portraits in freshwater wildlife. Timing a visit for early summer when chicks are small but active gives the best opportunity to capture this behavior.
Historically hunted to near-extinction in Britain for its silky plumage, which was used in the fashion industry, the Great Crested Grebe became one of the early catalysts for the bird protection movement in the late 19th century. The formation of what would eventually become the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was partly driven by outrage over the slaughter of grebes. Populations have since recovered strongly across Europe and are now stable to increasing.