I was told that the Little Grebe is an uncommon bird species in Singapore. It is not normally resident in Singapore but there have been some pairs and young seen over the years in a few select spots. I had no idea that the lil' grebe was a water bird resembling a small duck. I initially mistook an ashy tailorbird in a bush for it but was soon corrected by a puzzled more experienced birder when i described the little grebe I was looking at as 'in the bush'.
The little grebe made occasional pips when communicating with its partner who was at another corner of the pond. This bird was capable of quite a bit of underwater swimming as I lost track of it when it dived in and reappeared some distance away from the dive-in spot. An amazing dive and great escape tactic!
Clip 1 : swimming and diving :-
Clip 1 : swimming and diving :-
Clip 2 : Here is a clip of two little grebes going about their daily routine : -
I noticed that the birds seemed to take turns tending to a floating nest in the middle of the pool although the male bird seemed to do more preparing the nest whilst the female occasionally inspected it and sat on it later.
Clip 3 : courtship preliminaries :-
Clip 3 : courtship preliminaries :-
The male bird dives in near the nest and comes up with a bill full of muddy decaying vegetative matter (@0:11) and plonks it down on the nest edge whilst the female is sitting on it. Presumably, this would dry out eventually in the sun forming a better base to nest on. After he plonks down the material on the nest edge, the female bows her head (@0:24) and the male moves towards her rear. He seems to be getting slightly excited...building up courage. He slowly edges himself against the nest (@0:39) whilst the female keeps her head pointing low into the water as if she was targeting some fish in the water. However, (@1:00) the female decides to get up and re-position herself whilst the male gets noticeably more excited. The male, interrupted, drifts away though not far from the nest.
Clip 4 : copulation :-
Clip 4 : copulation :-
(!)
At 4:44, the male cannot contain his excitement any longer and jumps
up and onto the female. He lowers his rear onto her rear and rubs his rear on
her. Meanwhile, the female rhythmically turns her head from side to side. At 5:03, the male extricates himself slowly before quickly jumping off the female. Both then stand looking around for a few seconds before both take to the
water in separate directions looking for food and grooming themselves occasionally keeping in touch with singular pips.
Find out more about the Little Grebe here :
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