Least Grebe

Tachybaptus dominicus

Order PODICIPEDIFORMES - Family PODICIPEDIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The smallest grebe in the Americas, the Least Grebe inhabits both temporary and permanent wetlands from south Texas to Argentina. Easily overlooked because of its size, coloration, and habits, it remains the most poorly understood of North American grebes.

Cool Facts

• The Least Grebe sunbathes by facing away from the sun, closing its wings and tipping them upward on the back. It raises feathers of the rear parts, as well as those on the back of the head. The skin underneath these raised feathers has black pigment, believed to help absorb solar radiation.
• The Least Grebe can hide under water with only its bill showing above the surface.

Description

• Size: 22-27 cm (9-11 in)
• Weight: 81-182 g (2.86-6.42 ounces)

• Small waterbird.
• Sooty-colored head and body.
• Thin, dark bill.
• Yellow eyes.

• Tail end often high off water, showing fluffy white feathers.
• White patch in wings visible only in flight.
• Pale tip to dark bill.
• Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: throat black, underparts mottled sooty and white.
• Nonbreeding (Basic) Plumage: throat white, underparts white.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage, male slightly larger.

Immature

Bill is pale. Eyes brown, turning whitish as it gets older. Head has white stripes, gradually darkening. Throat white.

Similar Species

• Eared Grebe also has a "high-sterned" posture, but is much larger, with reddish flanks (breeding) or whitish areas near back of head (nonbreeding).

Sound

Call is a loud, ringing, nasal single-syllable note. Also an extended trill.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Resident from south Texas across most of Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

Habitat

Temporary or permanent wetlands, including ponds, lakes, ditches, and slow-moving rivers.

Food

Aquatic insects, small fish, and tadpoles.

Behavior

Foraging

Picks prey from water's surface; also dives to pluck food from the bottom, or emerges from under water to snap at flying insects above surface.

Reproduction

Nest Type

A pile of decaying vegetation anchored to plants in shallow water.

Egg Description

Whitish, or pale blue or green.

Clutch Size

Usually 4-6 eggs. Range: 3-7.

Condition at Hatching

Covered with black-and-white down. Within 20 minutes after hatching, young Least Grebes can climb on their mother's backs; within 40 minutes, they can cling to their mother when she dives.

Conservation Status

Hunted across much of its range. No immediate conservation concern.

Other Names

Grebe minime (French)
Zambullidor chico, Tigua (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Storer, R. W. 1992. Least Grebe (Tachybaptus dominicus). In The Birds of North America, No. 24 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists' Union.