David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
_________________________________________________________________________________________Birds 140 – Great-crested Grebes
GREAT CRESTED GREBES Podiceps cristatus
(m)
GREAT
CRESTED GREBE Podiceps cristatus with EUROPEAN PERCH Perca fluvialis
GREAT CRESTED GREBES Podiceps cristatus
(m)
GREAT CRESTED GREBES Podiceps cristatus
(m)
GREAT CRESTED GREBE Podiceps cristatus
GREAT CRESTED GREBE Podiceps cristatus
(juvenile)
GREAT CRESTED GREBE Podiceps cristatus
(juvenile)
- In common with other aquatic birds Great Crested Grebes Podiceps cristatus
need to dedicate much of their time to the oiling and preening of feathers
as insulation and water-proofing are essential
for buoyancy and survival, as illustrated by the first of these
photographs. They are excellent fishermen and they certainly need to be in
order to keep up with the demand for food from their rather demonstrative
and very noisy chicks (see final two images). They are also territorial as
demonstrated by the photographs of rival males fighting in defence of
their young families. Thankfully these beautiful birds are no longer
threatened. They were persecuted almost to the verge of extinction in the
UK during the mid-19th century as their feathers were considered to be an
essential fashion accessory for hats at the time. They look much more
attractive when attached to their rightful owners!
·
David has published two high quality
photographic books illustrating Great-crested Grebes. These are available on line and they
may be previewed in full – see: http://www.bobbooks.co.uk/bookshop/great-crested-grebes
and http://www.bobbooks.co.uk/bookshop/great-crested-grebes-fighting
for details.
- David’s short
film of a Great-crested Grebe preening may be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqzt200Gwnw.
-> Birds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220 221, 222,
223,
224,
225,
226,
227,
228,
229,
230,
231,
232,
233,
234,
235,
236,
237,
238,
239,
240,
241,
242,
243,
244,
245,
246,
247,
248,
249,
250,
251,
252,
253,
254,
255,
256,
257,
258,
259,
260,
261,
262,
263,
264,
265,
266,
267,
268,
269,
270,
271,
272,
273,
274,
275,
276,
277,
278,
279,
280
-> Species Index, Common Names
-> Species Index, Scientific Names
-> Site Index
-> Home