Horned Grebe

Horned Grebe, adult, breeding plumage

About the photographs

About the map

Play sound from this species

Horned Grebe, adult, nonbreeding

Menu

1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

Familiar to most North American birders in its black-and-white winter plumage, the Horned Grebe is more striking in its red-and-black breeding feathers. Its "horns" are yellowish patches of feathers behind its eyes that it can raise and lower at will.

Description

• Small waterbird.
• Small head and bill.
• Bill short and thin.
• White cheek in winter.
• Reddish neck, black cheek, and yellow tuft behind eye in summer.

• Size: 31-38 cm (12-15 in)
• Wingspan: 55-64 cm (22-25 in)
• Weight: 300-570 g (10.59-20.12 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Calls a loud, nasal "aaarrrh" descending in pitch, and a pulsing trill. Usually silent in winter.

Conservation Status

Common, but breeding range contracting and populations may be declining.

Other Names

Grèbe cornu, Grèbe esclavon (French)
Zambullidor cornudo, Zampullin cuellirrojo, Zampullin orejudo, Noveleta cuellirroja (Spanish)
Slavonian Grebe (English)

Cool Facts

• Like most grebes, the small chicks of the Horned Grebe frequently ride on the backs of their swimming parents. The young ride between the wings on the parent's back, and may even go underwater with them during dives.
• The Horned Grebe regularly eats some of its own feathers, enough that its stomach usually contains a matted plug of them. This plug may function as a filter or may hold fish bones in the stomach until they can be digested. The parents even feed feathers to their chicks to get the plug started early.

• A sleeping or resting Horned Grebe puts its neck on its back with its head off to one side and facing forward. It keeps one foot tucked up under a wing and uses the other one to maneuver in the water. Having one foot up under a wing makes it float with one "high" side and one "low" side.

Sources used to construct this page:

Stedman, S. J. 2000. Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus). In The Birds of North America, No. 505 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.