Fareed Mohmed ← The Indian List

Bird Photography · The Indian List

Grebes

1 of 5 species photographed

Five species reach India, and only one of them, Little Grebe, is at all common — the rest are scarce winter visitors, mostly to the far north-west, and a genuine find anywhere else. Grebes are diving waterbirds, built low in the water with lobed rather than webbed toes, and unlike ducks they rarely come out onto land at all, living almost their entire lives on the water's surface or beneath it.

5Species in India
1Photographed
Ponds and quiet waterWhere to look
Diving for fishHow they feed
Little GrebeThe common one

The species

Little Grebe

Tachybaptus ruficollis3 frames
Status
Resident, with some local movement
Range
Widespread across India wherever suitable still water exists
Habitat
Ponds, tanks, lakes and slow-moving water with some cover at the margins
IUCN
Least Concern

The smallest and by far the most familiar Indian grebe, a dumpy, short-necked bird that rides low in the water and dives frequently for small fish and invertebrates. Breeding adults show a chestnut face and foreneck against a dark cap, a pale spot at the base of the bill, and a bright eye. Chicks are boldly striped black and white on the head and are often carried on a parent's back, exactly the behaviour that make for the easiest and most reliable views of the species.

FM0096
Jul 2016Ameenpur Lake, Sangareddy, TelanganaAdult with a chick riding on its back.

Photographs by Fareed Mohmed