Hoary-headed Grebe
Poliocephalus poliocephalus(4 photos)
Hoary-headed Grebe
29-30 cm. Breeding Plumage: distinctive, with brushed-back grey 'hair', streaked black; eye silver; square black 'chin'; conspicuous cream to buffish white foreneck and breast; narrow black streak down nape; greyish flanks. Winter adult: much plainer; bill cream-grey; brown crown cut off by whitish cheeks below eye; retains cream-white breast, diagnostic narrow black nape-streak; flanks greyish white. Juvenile: striped. Immature: like winter adult. More gregarious than Australasian Grebe, and more often on brackish or salt water; in dry seasons and winter, loose flocks of hundreds on larger waters. Disturbed, may skitter and fly, rather than dive.
- Similar Species
- Australasian Grebe.
- Voice
- usually silent; rolling guttural sounds, or soft churring.
- Habitat
- brackish and salt swamps; open, bare lakes, reservoirs; larger wetlands generally; floodwaters; sheltered coastal bays and inlets, especially in winter; less likely than Australasian Grebe on small farm dams.
- Breeding
- Aug.-Jan.
- Nest
- smaller than Australasian Grebe; often on bottom or underwater support; frequently in loose colony, or with Whiskered Terns.
- Eggs
- 2-4; greenish, oval, limy; stained brown.
- Range & Status
- Aust. and Tas.; locally abundant. Scarce, casual and seasonal in n. Aust. and far inland. Nomadic; dispersive.
