Black-necked Grebe

• It spends between nine and ten months a year without flying and is one of the least efficient fliers among birds; even so, on migration it covers up to 6,000 km.
• One parent carries the chicks on its back, between the wings, while the other member of the pair dives for food and passes it straight into their bills.
• Faced with a threat it does not take off: it slips under the surface with barely a ripple and comes up several metres away.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Shallow, nutrient-rich freshwater wetlands with marsh vegetation, and coastal lagoons and saltpans. In Spain the three regular areas are the Doñana marshes, the wetlands of La Mancha and El Hondo, in Alicante

Size at birth

The chicks are semi-precocial: they leave the nest within hours and ride on their parents' backs

Sexual maturity

2 years

Gestation / incubation

20-22 days, with both sexes taking part in the incubation. The chicks become independent from 20 days on

Litter / clutch size

2-3 eggs, sometimes up to 5. Generally a single clutch, with replacement clutches if the first fails

Sources consulted: SEO/BirdLife (ficha y III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España) · IUCN Red List · Asturnatura · Gordo et al. 2022, III Atlas · Lista Roja Europea de Aves 2021 · Llimona et al. en Madroño et al. 2004

Best time: All year round; breeding is concentrated between April and August and the winter brings birds from the north