The Grey-cheeked Grebe is a medium-sized bird with a long neck, which it usually curves into a hook. It is very easy to mistake her for a duck, but in reality they have little in common. Unless both birds love to be in the water. What is unique about the grey-cheeked grebe? Her photo and description are presented in our article.
What is this bird?
Grey-cheeked grebes belong to the grebe family, which includes 22 modern species. Outwardly, they were repeatedly compared with ducks, auks and loons, but there are no close family ties between them. That is why the birds were identified in a separate detachment of grebes.
These are inconspicuous and cautious birds. They spend most of their time on the water, as grebes are much better at swimming and diving than flying.
Their diet consists mainly of aquatic life, giving their meat a characteristic fishy taste and smell. Because of this feature, the birds got their specific name and are not highly valued in cooking. But their feathers were once very popular. In the 19th century, grebe hunting wascommonplace, in some regions the birds were completely exterminated.
Today they no longer cause such a stir among poachers and hunters, but gray-cheeked grebes in the Red Books of many regions are still on the list of rare or vulnerable species. Now the main problems for their widespread distribution are dirty water bodies, as well as fishermen, who regularly disturb their nesting sites.
Grey-cheeked grebe: photo and description
Toadstools are the owners of a long neck, an elongated and sharp beak, as well as an interesting multi-colored plumage. Their body rarely exceeds 40 - 50 centimeters in length, and the wingspan is approximately 75 - 85 centimeters. Unlike many waterfowl, their toes are not connected by a solid swimming membrane. Each of them is surrounded by a dense skin growth, forming something like blades. While swimming, the bird does not lower its legs under itself, but holds them behind, rotating them as if it were a propeller of a boat.
Grey-cheeked grebes have a dull greyish color in winter. With the onset of the mating season, they transform, putting on bright plumage to attract a partner. A black "cap" appears on the bird's head, which stretches from the base of the beak to the back of the head. Its borders are marked with a thin white stripe. The cheeks of the toadstool, as its name implies, take on a light gray hue, and the neck and chest become dark red. The body of the bird is painted dark gray with white feathers interspersed. Chicks are not at all similar in color to their parents. They are covered in dark graydown plumage with two white stripes on the cheeks and neck.
The flight of the grebe is low and fast, it usually does not rise above 30 meters in height. In the air, the bird is strongly stretched and looks larger than its actual size. It doesn’t work for her to take off from a place, in order to climb up, she needs to scatter. On land, it moves slowly and clumsily, but on the water it is more confident. In search of molluscs, crustaceans and fish, the grebe is able to dive up to 60 meters deep, accelerating up to three meters per second.
Habitat
The gray-cheeked grebe lives mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. It breeds from Great Britain to Russia, from Sweden and Finland to Turkey and the Balkans. The bird is found in Siberia and in the northern regions of the Far East, on the Kuril Islands and in the northeastern regions of North America.
For wintering flies to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. Travels to India, Pakistan, to the area of the Sea of Japan. Some birds do not fly away, remaining on non-freezing water bodies of the mainland, for example, in the Great Lakes region.
Grey-cheeked grebe prefers quiet places overgrown with reeds and reeds. For nesting, it chooses shallow water bodies with a slow current, mainly river backwaters, ponds, small lakes and swamps. The depth of such places usually ranges from 2 to 15 meters.
Lifestyle
Toadstools live in separate pairs and rarely unite in colonies. Even in a group they keep a distance of 10-50meters. These are monogamous birds that choose one partner for the season and feed offspring with him. The courtship period is accompanied by loud cries and demonstrative poses of grebes, synchronized swimming parallel to each other, as well as delicious gifts from the male.
The toadstool nest is made right on the water, attaching it to the stems of aquatic plants. This often protects the clutch from raccoons, raccoon dogs and foxes. But it cannot save from herons, hawks and gulls. The female lays eggs at large intervals and the chicks in the brood are always of different ages. The first weeks the chicks are not very independent and their parents carry them on their backs. After one and a half to two months, they rise to the wing and leave the brood. In two years, they will be able to start a family themselves.
