Grebes

Great Crested Grebe

Haubentaucher

Podiceps cristatus

Grebes12 photosFirst seen: 30 August 2026

The Great Crested Grebe is a large diving bird of Eurasian and African waters. Its elaborate courtship includes mirrored head-shaking and a display in which pairs rise from the water carrying vegetation.

ID tip: Breeding adults have a black double crest and chestnut-and-black head ruff. In winter the long white neck, dark crown and slim pink bill remain useful marks.

First seen: 30 August 2026 · Nordende des Zürichsees · 12 photos in the collection.

Places in my records

Locations where this species is supported by a dated first record, an unambiguous single-place outing or a reviewed assignment.

Lake Skadar4 September 2026 Nordende des Zürichsees30 August 2026

Family: Grebes (Podicipedidae)
Length: 46–51 cm
Wingspan: 59–73 cm
Regional status: Year-round resident (Switzerland)
Conservation: Least Concern LCIUCN Red List · retrieved 30 August 2026
Habitat: Large lakes, reservoirs and slow rivers with sheltered nesting margins
Diet: Fish, aquatic insects, crustaceans and amphibians

Built from verified occurrence records, not drawn by hand. Core range = the countries holding 99% of all records; the rest are scattered or vagrant records. Record counts track where people watch birds as much as where the birds are, so the map shows presence, not abundance. Data: GBIF (CC BY 4.0). Basemap: Natural Earth.

Selected photographs

Complete photo archiveAll 12 published photographs of this species, including the selected main gallery.Open all 12 photos in the archive →