Little Grebe
generally attach the nest material to a sunken bush, or dead tree. After nest building the female grebe lays her egg at water level. Depending on the amount of emergent vegetation determines the number of eggs laid. The average number of eggs is five, sometimes more, sometimes less depending on various reasons.
As soon as the first eggs are laid both birds begin to incubate the eggs. Throughout the incubation period nest material is added. As the incubation period advances a detailed nest relief ritual takes place. When the bird sitting on the eggs gets upset they always cover the eggs with water weeds.
The young birds grow and leave the nest over expanded time. At first they move around the nest within a few hours of birth. Next step is to leave the nest for a float or short swim with the adults nearby. Sometimes the young grebe climb onto the adults back. The young birds call for food, with peeps and the adult birds feed them tadpoles and insect larvae. Later the adults drop food in front of them and the young bird finds and eat the food. By the time they are five weeks old they can feed themselves and by seven weeks are fully grown, fly, take off and land on the water.
Their voice has a particular peeping call depending on the situation. Most often heard is the courtship trill. When there is an alarm or the bird is alerted birders here a loud sharp clicking call.
Little Grebes start to return to breeding grounds in March. During the dry season the birds may migrate to flooded areas in the lower sections of their territory. If man builds a dam the birds will settle around it quickly and may become permanent inhabitants on larger dams. Frost drives the Little Grebes to the shoreline. Birds that normally settle in the northern regions move south in the fall months. In winter birders see the Little grebes along the seacoasts.
A bird of prey like a sparrow hawk flies low across the water seeking his next meal of a Little Grebe swimming around. At the last second the Little Grebe dives under the water, leaving a perplexed bird of prey. When the birds fly at night some die because they hit power lines.
The Little Grebe is not a threatened species of bird. Population in Southern Africa expanded because of farm
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