The Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) is Sweden's largest and best-known grebe, about 46–61 cm long with a wingspan of 59–73 cm and a weight of 600–1,400 g. It has a slender, long white neck, brownish-grey upperparts and pale underparts. In breeding plumage it carries a black head-tuft and an erectile chestnut-and-black ruff around the face that gives the species its name; in winter plumage the ruff disappears and the bird shows a simpler black-and-white pattern with a white cheek and neck. It rides low in the water, dives frequently and rarely flies, holding its neck outstretched.
The species is vocal during the breeding season, giving nasal, screeching, rolling calls often rendered as "krrrrr-aahh" and harsh "krrrt-krrrt", heard best in spring and early summer as part of its lively, highly visible courtship display. It breeds in southern and central Sweden, north to roughly Dalarna, with a population of some 10,000–15,000 pairs; most birds are short-distance migrants, arriving in March–April and leaving in October–November, though many winter along ice-free coasts. The nest is a floating platform of water plants anchored in reeds; the clutch is typically 3–5 eggs with an incubation period of about 27–29 days, and the striped chicks often ride on a parent's back for the first weeks while the other parent dives for food. It feeds largely on fish such as roach, perch and bream, caught in dives usually to depths of 2–5 metres, supplemented by insects and crustaceans. The species is famed above all for its elaborate courtship dance, in which the pair rise together out of the water face to face, holding waterweed in their bills.
Read about this species in Swedish →