Little Grebe

A compact grebe that repeatedly dives and resurfaces on ponds.

A recording has not been added yet. Use the identification notes below for now.

I know this bird · Record a sighting Where to look & how to find it ↓

FIELDCRAFT · FIND WITH CARE

Finding guide

Secretive: be patient

Choose the season, find the habitat, then watch patiently. Search guidance is not a measure of rarity or conservation status.

When to go: All year
Where to start: Park ponds, canals and water edges with sheltering vegetation.
What to do when you arrive: Quietly watch pond-edge water for small rounded diving birds. Wait after each dive for a nearby resurfacing, without disturbing aquatic vegetation.

Habitat and behaviour reference: BirdWatch Ireland ↗ · The practical steps are editorial advice based on the references, not live sightings.

No sufficiently evidenced, suitable public destination is included yet, so no speculative marker is shown. Start with habitat and season; an absent marker does not imply an absent species.

SPECIES NOTESSpecies notes

How to identify it

Small and rounded with a short neck, short pointed bill and fluffy rear. Breeding birds have chestnut cheeks and a pale gape patch; winter birds are buff-brown, young birds striped-faced.

Habitat

Ponds, canals, slow water and small well-vegetated wetlands.

Behaviour

Dives for aquatic invertebrates and small fish.

When to look

All year

Where to look

Park ponds, canals and water edges with sheltering vegetation.

Reference photos do not show every sex, age, season or geographic form; use the identification notes too.

Further reading:BirdWatch Ireland ↗ · Wikipedia ↗

COMMUNITY SIGHTINGS

Recent encounters

0 public sightings

◌

No public sightings yet.
Yours could be the first.