- Podilymbus podiceps
Identification
Dark grey-brown above, paler grey-brown, tinged rufous on breast and flanks and belly and fluffy undertail coverts white. Head and hindneck dark grey-brown or blackish, sides of head paler and tinged rufous, chin and throat black. Bill short and thick, white with black central band. Length 30-38cm. Wingspan 59cm.
Distribution
USA, Canada, Mexico, the West Indies, Colombia, Venezuela, and Argentina.
Taxonomy
Three subspecies recognised varying slightly in colour of upperparts, overall size, bill size and extent of bill-band and chin patch. Nominate race occurs in North America and winters south to Panama and Cuba, antillarum breeds in the West Indies and antarcticus in South America.
Habitat
Freshwaters, sometimes estuaries but very rarely on the sea.
Behaviour
Its diet includes small fish, frogs and tadpoles and aquatic invertebrates.
It builds its nest as a heap of floating vegetation on edge of reedbeds or other marginal vegetation, sometimes on the bottom in shallow water. 4-7 whitish, tinged bluish or buff eggs are laid which are incubated by both sexes for 23-24 days. Young tended by both sexes. Single or double-brooded.
