Great Crested Grebe Weed Dance

Great Crested Grebe Weed Dance. Two Great Crested Grebes captured in full courtship display. During this strange mating ritual both birds dive underwater at the same time and re-emerge with a beak full of weeds. The pair then rush towards one another and paddle their feet rapidly to rise upright out of the water until they are standing chest to chest. A strange dance then ensues where they flick their heads from side to side splashing each other with the water weed.

Great Crested Grebe Weed Dance: About Great Crested Grebes

The great crested grebe is the largest of the grebes found in Europe and one of the most elegant of our native British waterbirds. During the summer breeding season both males and females can be identified by their beautiful head-plumes, so prized that in the past over hunting for their feathers led to the grebes near extinction. Great crested grebe are perhaps best known for their elaborate courtship display, during which the pairs present each other with gifts and rise up out of the water turning their heads from side to side with head plumes raised. Due to their clumsily placed feet for walking on land, grebes are much more elegant on the water and hunt by diving to catch fish and insects.

More information on great crested grebes can be found here.