BC Conservation Data Centre: Conservation Status Report
Podiceps auritus
Horned Grebe
| Scientific Name: | Podiceps auritus |
|---|---|
| English Name: | Horned Grebe |
| Provincial Status Summary | |
| Status: | S4B,SNRN |
| Date Status Assigned: | November 29, 2005 |
| Date Last Reviewed: | March 05, 2015 |
| Reasons: | Widespread, assumed stable and not threatened, abundant nonbreeders. |
| Range | |
| Range Extent: | FG = 20,000-2,500,000 square km |
| Range Extent Comments: | Breeds (C) throughout interior valleys and tablelands including central-southern areas (centre of abundance is Chilcotin-Cariboo Basiin and Thompson-Okanagan Plateau regions), Peace Lowlands, and across northern portion of BC. Migration (D) occurs throughout. Important wintering areas (BC): on coast - Clayoquot Sound (Robertson 1974) western and southern Strait of Georgia, Fraser River estuary, Haro Strait; in s. interior - Okanagan Lake, Kootenay Lake, Lower Arrow Lake, and Columbia River (Campbell et al 1990). |
| Occurrences & Population | |
| Number of Occurrences: | DE = 81 to >300 |
| Comments: | Widespread breeder east of Coast Ranges. Widespread nonbreeder (D), (Campbell et al. 1990). |
| Number of Occurrences with Good Viability / Ecological Integrity: | Rank Factor not assessed |
| Number of Occurrences Appropriately Protected & Managed: | U = Unknown |
| Population Size: | D = 1,000 - 2,500 individuals |
| Comments: | Breeding (B?). Nonbreeders (D): common to very common migrant in BC; rare summer vistant along coast, uncommon to fairly common in interior east of Coast Ranges; in winter common to very common along coast; fairly common to common in s. interior (Campbell et al. 1990). |
| Threats (to population, occurrences, or area affected) | |
| Degree of Threat: | Rank Factor not assessed |
| Trend (in population, range, area occupied, and/or condition of occurrences) | |
| Short-Term Trend: | G = Relatively Stable (<=10% change) |
| Comments: |
Assumed to be stable in BC (for nonbreeding birds also). [On 1986 USA Blue List (Tate 1986) because migrant and wintering numbers in NE North America were down.] ***CF Comment: Declining in most parts of N.Am breeding range, however increasing in British Columiba according to BBS routes 1966-2003, so range collapse towards BC suspected.*** |
| Long-Term Trend: | Rank Factor not assessed |
| Other Factors | |
| Intrinsic Vulnerability: | Rank Factor not assessed |
| Environmental Specificity: | Rank Factor not assessed |
| Other Rank Considerations: | |
| Information Gaps | |
| Research Needs: | |
| Inventory Needs: | |
| Stewardship | |
| Protection: | |
| Management: | |
| Version | |
| Author: | Westereng, L.K. |
| Date: | January 21, 2000 |
| References | |
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Bird, J., R. Martin, H.R. Akçakaya, et al. 2020. Generation lengths of the world?s birds and their implications for extinction risk. Conservation Biology 34:1252?1261.
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I.McT. Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G. Kaiser, and M.C.E. McNall. 1990. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 1. Nonpasserines: Introduction, Loons through Waterfowl. Royal B.C. Mus. in association with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv. 514pp.
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eBird. ND. eBird: an online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y.
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Meehan, T.D., G.S. LeBaron, K. Dale, et al. 2022. Trends in relative abundance for birds wintering in the continental USA and Canada: Audubon Christmas Bird Counts, 1966-2021, version 4.0. National Audubon Society, New York, New York, USA.
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Robertson, I. 1974. An inventory of seabirds occurring along the west coast of Canada. Part II: the shoreline and inlet zone. Canadian Wildlife Service Unpublished Report, Delta, BC. 64pp (Bibliography 3935).
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Stedman, S. J. 2020. Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for information on how the CDC determines conservation status ranks. For global conservation status reports and ranks, please visit the NatureServe website http://www.natureserve.org/.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2000. Conservation Status Report: Podiceps auritus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).