Little Grebe (Spágaire tonn)

The Little Grebe, also known as the Dabchick, is commonly found on lakes, large ponds, canals and slow rivers across Ireland. In the winter, it is also known to frequent sheltered coastal areas. One of our smallest aquatic birds, at just 26cm in length, it is dwarfed by ducks, Moorhens, Coots and other water birds.

Despite a superficial resemblance to ducks, Little Grebes are completely unrelated to them. In fact, the grebes are one of the most ancient of all the world's bird families, and have no close link to any other modern avian groups.
Supremely adapted for life in the water, they are more likely to dive than fly away when startled, and sometimes swim with only their head visible above the surface. They also find most of their food underwater: insect larvae, aquatic snails and small fish.

Little Grebes are rather dumpy-looking birds, almost always seen in the water, and the sexes look alike. In summer they are dark brown on the body and wings, though whitish under the tail, with a striking chestnut colour on the neck and cheeks and a pale yellow patch at each side of the base of the bill. In winter, they are duller overall, and lose most of their chestnut tone.

A notable feature of the Little Grebe is its extremely dense feathering, culminating in a fluffy “powder puff” under the tail. In the 19th Century, they were all but hunted to extinction across Europe on account of this “grebe fur”, a prized commodity in the women's hat industry. Thankfully this trade was outlawed in the nick of time and the species recovered well.

To join BirdWatch Ireland and help them to conserve and protect Ireland's wild birds, please call 01-2819878, e-mail info@birdwatchireland.ie or visit www.birdwatchireland.ie.

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