Great Crested Grebe
Latin: Skäggdopping
Svenska: Podiceps cristatus (Linné 1758)
Deutsch: Haubentaucher
Mimicing male
The great crested grebe has a strange mating display. If the female picks up some aquatic plants, so does the male. If the female stretches herself out, the male does the same. All throughout the spring, they mimic the other’s actions.
Great crested grebes are found near lowland lakes as well as along the coast. This bird has ancestors in Uppland, and archaeological finds have been made from as far back as the iron age. If you want to see a great crested grebe, you should take a walk along the Fyris river down to Övre Föret between April and September.
Many of these birds migrate in September and October to Western and Central Europe, but a larger number spend the winter in the southern Baltic Sea. They return to Uppland in April.
Photo: Lukasz Lukasik ©
Latest sightings of great crested grebes in Uppland
NatureGate on the great crested grebe
Wikipedia article on the great crested grebe