Seroshkoy grebe is a medium-sized bird with a long neck, which it usually bends with a hook. It is very easy to mistake her for a duck, but in reality they have little in common. Unless both birds love being in the water. What is unique to the gray-cheeked grebe? Her photo and description are presented in our article.
What kind of bird is this?
Gray-faced grebes belong to the grebe family, which includes 22 modern species. Outwardly, they were repeatedly compared with ducks, purebreds and loons, but there are no close family ties between them. That is why the birds were identified in a separate order of grebe-like.
These are inconspicuous and careful birds. They spend most of their time on the water, as grebes swim and dive much better than they fly.
Their diet consists mainly of the inhabitants of water bodies, which is why their meat has a characteristic fishy aftertaste and smell. Because of this feature, the birds got their specific name and are not very appreciated in cooking. But their feathers were once very popular. In the 19th century, toadstool hunting was commonplace; in some regions, 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 ponds, as well as fishermen who regularly disturb their nesting sites.
Seroshcheka grebe: photo and description
Toadstools - 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, a continuous swimming membrane does not connect their fingers. Each of them is surrounded by a dense skin outgrowth, forming something like lobes. During swimming, the bird does not lower its legs underneath, but holds them behind, rotating them as if it were a boat propeller.
In winter, gray-cheeked grebes have a dull grayish color. With the onset of the mating season, they are transformed, putting on a bright plumage to attract a partner. A black “hat” appears on the bird’s head, which stretches from the base of the beak to the back of the head. Its borders are indicated by a thin white stripe. The toadstool cheeks, 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 in dark gray with a splash of white feathers. Chicks in color are not at all like their parents. They are covered with dark gray feathers with two white stripes on the cheeks and neck.
Toadstool flight is low and fast, usually it does not rise above 30 meters in height. In the air, the bird is very elongated and looks larger than its real size. She does not go up from her place, in order to go up, she needs to scatter. On land, he moves slowly and awkwardly, but on the water he keeps himself more confidently. In search of mollusks, crustaceans and fish, the grebe is able to dive up to 60 meters in depth, accelerating to three meters per second.
Habitat
Gray-faced grebe lives mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. It nests from the UK 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 the winter flies off on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. Travels to India, Pakistan, to the region of the Sea of Japan. Some birds do not fly away, remaining in the ice-free reservoirs of the continents, for example, in the Great Lakes region.
Seroshcheka grebe prefers quiet, overgrown with reeds and reeds. For nesting, he selects shallow reservoirs with a slow course, mainly river backwaters, ponds, small lakes and swamps. The depth of such places usually ranges from 2 to 15 meters.
