Description:

A very small, short-billed grebe, rump often appearing very fluffy. Shows whitish secondaries in flight. In breeding plumage, has rufous cheeks and neck sides and yellow patch at base of bill. In non-breeding plumage, has buff cheeks, foreneck and flanks. Juvenile has brown stripes across cheeks.

Distribution:

Uncommon summer visitor to major waterways and lakes in south-western Gilgit-Baltistan. Prefers vegetated lakes, marshes and open slow moving rivers and streams. Essentially a lowland species but found up to 2000m.

Behavior:

Feeds mainly by diving; also swims along with head and neck submerged, and picks prey directly off emergent vegetation or water surface. Sometimes associates with ducks and coots. Diet mainly insects and larvae, especially mayflies, stoneflies, various water bugs, beetles, flies, caddis flies and dragonfly larvae; also molluscs, crustaceans and amphibians.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Little Grebe in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Little Grebe

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.