Tachybaptus novaehollandiae
The Australasian Grebe, *Tachybaptus novaehollandiae*, is a diminutive and highly aquatic bird, often considered the smallest grebe within its widespread range. Adorned with a striking black head and neck, it features a distinctive chestnut stripe extending from behind the eye to the ear coverts, complemented by a brilliant pale yellow iris. Its compact body, measuring typically 25-27 cm in length and weighing around 250-280g, is covered in dark brownish-grey upperparts and paler underparts, ...
This species primarily inhabits shallow, still, or slow-moving freshwater wetlands, including lakes, ponds, swamps, and reservoirs, occasionally venturing into brackish estuaries. It can be found from sea level up to elevations exceeding 2000 meters in some parts of its range.
Their diet consists mainly of aquatic invertebrates, such as insects and their larvae, small crustaceans, and tadpoles, supplemented with small fish. They forage by diving underwater to pursue and capture prey.
Australasian Grebes are diurnal birds, spending most of their time actively foraging and roosting on the water, often near protective emergent vegetation. They are expert divers, propelling themselves with powerful webbed feet to pursue aquatic insects, crustaceans, and small fish underwater. Fie...
The Australasian Grebe boasts a wide distribution across Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand (where it is primarily a vagrant but has resident populations in some areas), New Guinea, and islands within Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The nominate subspecies, *T. n. novaehollandiae*, is found throughout m...
Least Concern
- Australasian Grebes regularly ingest their own feathers, believed to help line their stomach and protect it from sharp fish bones or chitinous insect remains, with indigestible parts later regurgitated as pellets. - Young grebes are precocial but often ride on their parents' backs, even during ...