The Black-necked Grebe, with 4 subspecies, is a medium-sized water bird.
Similarly, the horned grebe has a straight mouth and a flat forehead; The front neck and chest of the summer feather are red, and the feathers behind the eyes are not fanned out but in a family shape. The winter feather below the eyes, cheeks, ear feathers, chin, throat, front neck, side of the neck, both sides of the flank and the whole lower body are all pure white, which is obviously different from it.
The black-necked grebe is active during the day, usually in pairs or small groups on open water. During the breeding period, they are mostly active in the emergent plants or nearby waters, and when they meet people, they hide in the water grass. The day activity time is longer, from early morning to dusk, almost all in the water, generally do not go to the land. Frequent diving during the activity, each dive time can be up to 30-50 seconds.
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In 1984, the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences observed the black-necked Grebe group activity, a group of about 20-30 Grebe, feeding in the water and on the ground in Gengduo Sea, Nansha Zhu, Qinghai Province. Short wings are not easy to fly, and even if they fly, they are very close to the water surface, and the wings make waves on the water surface, flying about 10 meters before falling.
The black-necked grebe feeds mainly by diving. The diet consists mainly of insects and their larvae, various small fish, frogs, tadpoles, worms, crustaceans and mollusks, and occasionally a small amount of aquatic plants.
The black-necked grebe migrates from its wintering grounds in the south to its breeding grounds in the north in the spring in April, and begins its southward migration in the autumn in late October. In China, there are few remaining grebe in Changbai Mountain as late as early November. Migration is usually carried out in pairs, occasionally in small groups of several individuals or single individuals.
The black-necked grebe produces the whine "poo-eeet" and a shrill trill during breeding.
The breeding season of the black-necked grebe is from May to August. From early April to mid-April each year, they move to the breeding grounds and nest in lakes and ponds with aquatic plants such as reeds or trichoppers. Nests are often built in pairs or small groups together, and the nests are mostly built among the reeds or fixed on the reeds. Usually floating nests, relatively simple, are composed of dead aquatic plants. The nest is round-shaped, the size of 15-20 cm ×13-15 cm, the height of the nest is 16-45 cm, the surface of the water is 3-4 cm, and the central part of the nest surface is slightly concave.
Each clutch lays 4-6 eggs, the first eggs are white or greenish white, gradually turning dirty white as they hatch, the size of the eggs is 39-45 mm × 27-31 mm. The male and female incubate the eggs in turn, usually starting as soon as the first egg is produced, and the incubation period is about 21 days. The chicks are early sex, after hatching the whole body is covered with feathers, after hatching the next day can swim in the water.
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In the Salton Sea, Southern California, the black-necked grebe has a high mortality rate, which may be due to unknown biotoxins, pathogens (such as erysipelas and botulism), decreased body temperature due to decreased water-resistance of feathers, or cholera in birds. While the black-necked grebe is often threatened by coastal oil pollution in the winter, the fluctuating El Nino weather pattern in its habitat increases sea surface temperatures and reduces food availability, resulting in a rapid population decline. Human interference, such as recreational activities in lakes and other places, the erection of power lines, and the acquisition of feathers for use in the garment industry are also among the threats. In Iran's Gilan province, black-necked grebe is hunted for commercial and recreational purposes.
The black-necked grebe was once common in winter along the southern coast of China and in Fujian Province, but its population has become scarce. According to surveys of Asian midwinter waterbirds organized by the International Waterfowl Research Bureau in 1990 and 1992, only 29 were seen in China in 1990 and only 11 in 1992. Populations outside China are also not abundant, with 1119 in East Asia, 1911 in South Asia and 430 in Southwest Asia in 1990, according to the above survey. In 1992, 171 individuals were found in East Asia, 1618 in South Asia, and 597 in West Asia.
It was included in the List of Land Wild Animals under State Protection that are beneficial or have important economic and scientific research value (Item 4) issued by the State Forestry Administration of China on August 1, 2000.
Listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) 2018 ver 3.1 - Species not at Risk (LC).
Listed in China's "National Key Protected Wildlife List" (February 5, 2021) Level 2.
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