Black-necked Grebe

Taxobox
name = Black-necked Grebe


image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Podiceps nigricollis nigricollis", breeding plumage
status = LC
status_system = iucn3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Podicipediformes
familia = Podicipedidae
genus = "Podiceps"
species = "P. nigricollis"
binomial = "Podiceps nigricollis"
binomial_authority = Brehm, 1831

The Black-necked Grebe, "Podiceps nigricollis", known in North America as the Eared Grebe, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. It occurs on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.

Taxonomy

There are three subspecies: [Harvnb|Ogilvie|Rose|2003|p=69]
*"P. n. nigricollis" is found from western Europe to western Asia (wintering to the south and west), in central and eastern Asia, and in eastern Africa
*"P. n. gurneyi" is found in southern Africa
*"P. n. californicus" is found from southwestern Canada through the western U.S. It winters as far south as Guatemala.

The two common names for this species both refer to features visible when the bird is in its breeding plumage; in such plumage, it has an all-black neck and a spray of golden plumes on each side of its head. The name "Eared Grebe" was in usage nearly a century before the name "Black-necked Grebe". The latter was first used in 1912 by Ernst Hartert, in an effort to bring the common name of the species in line with its scientific name. [Harvnb|Ogilvie|Rose|2003|p=102–103] The genus name of this species—"Podiceps"—comes from two Latin words: "podicis", meaning "vent" or "anus" and "pes" meaning "foot". [Harvnb|Ogilvie|Rose|2003|p=98] This is a reference to the attachment point of the bird's legs—at the extreme back end of its body. The specific epithet "nigricollis" is Latin for "black-necked": "niger" means "black" and "collis" means "neck".

Description and range

The Black-necked Grebe is 28–34 cm (12"-14") long. The adult is unmistakable in summer with a black head and neck and yellow ear tufts. In winter, this small grebe is white with a poorly defined black cap, which distinguishes it from the crisper-looking Slavonian Grebe (Horned Grebe in America).

In courtship the male gives a mellow "poo-ee-chk" call to the female.

This species breeds in vegetated areas of freshwater lakes across Europe, Asia, Africa, northern South America and the southwest and western United States. The North American subspecies, "P. n. californicus" is known as the Eared Grebe (or "eared diver"). These birds migrate in winter, mostly to the Pacific Coast where they range south to El Salvador on a regular basis; vagrants may occur as far as Costa Rica. [Herrera "et al." (2006)]

Black-necked Grebes of the nominate subspecies "P. n. nigricollis" in the cooler temperate regions of the Old World also winter further south, with many European birds moving to the Mediterranean area.The isolated southern African race, "P. n. gurneyi" is sedentary. It was named by South African ornithologist and author Austin Roberts in honour of the English bankers and amateur ornithologists John Henry Gurney and John Henry Gurney Jr..

Behaviour

The Black-necked Grebe is an excellent swimmer and diver, and pursues its prey underwater, eating mostly fish as well as aquatic insects and larvae. It prefers to escape danger by diving rather than flying, although it can easily rise from the water.

Like all grebes, the Black-necked Grebe nests on the water's edge, since its legs are set very far back and it cannot walk well. Usually two eggs are laid, and the striped young are sometimes carried on the adult's back.

Footnotes

References

*|year=2004|id=49530|title=Podiceps nigricollis|downloaded=9 May 2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
* (2006): Nuevos registros para la avifauna de El Salvador. ["New records for the avifauna of El Salvador"] . "Boletín de la Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología" 16(2): 1-19. [Spanish with English abstract] [http://www.sao.org.co/publicaciones/boletinsao/01-Herrera.etal.RecordsSalvador.pdf PDF fulltext]
*cite book |first=Malcolm |last=Ogilvie |coauthors=Rose, Chris |year=2003 |title=Gebes of the World |publisher=Bruce Coleman |location=Uxbridge, UK |isbn=1-872842-03-8

External links

* [http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob120.htm BTO BirdFacts - Black-necked Grebe]
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Eared_Grebe.html Eared Grebe] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [http://enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?allSpecies=y&searchText=eared%20grebe&curGroupID=1&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1 Eared Grebe] - eNature.com
* [http://sdakotabirds.com/species/eared_grebe_info.htm Eared Grebe Information and Photos] - South Dakota Birds
* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i0040id.html Eared Grebe] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter