BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Podiceps auritus
Horned Grebe
| Scientific Name: | Podiceps auritus (Linnaeus, 1758) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Horned Grebe | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-HOGR | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S4B,SNRN (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | Special Concern (Dec 2023) | ||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | 1 - Special Concern | ||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | Y | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | See Kaufman (1992, Am. Birds 46:1187-1190) for detailed information on identification of birds in basic plumage. | ||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Eggs are laid mid-May to mid-July in southern Canada. Average clutch size is 4-6. Incubation lasts usually 22-25 days, by both sexes. Young are tended by one or both parents, most fledge by 6-7 weeks. Renests if nest destroyed. Usually one pair (sometimes several) per pothole. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Primarily nongregarious, except at staging and resting areas prior to and during migration. Predation may result in high nest losses. Size of breeding territory reflects location and abundance of food supply. | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / Y / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Arrives in winter habitat in West mainly in October, departs for northern breeding areas mostly by April, peak influx in south-central Canada breeding areas early May. May aggregate at staging areas and resting areas during migration. Migrates day/night. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Lakes / Lake / Unknown
Lakes / Pond/Open Water / Facultative - frequent use Ocean / Sheltered Waters - Marine / Unknown Other Unique Habitats / Estuary / Unknown Wetland / Marsh / Facultative - frequent use Wetland / Swamp / Facultative - frequent use |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Marshes, ponds and lakes, occasionally along sluggish streams (breeding); bays, estuaries and seacoasts, and in migration commonly in inland freshwater habitats, especially lakes and rivers (nonbreeding) (AOU 1983). Nest on small and large lakes and ponds (about 0.1 ha or larger), in calm waters of marshes, along rivers and streams. Favors areas with much open water. Usually nests among tall vegetation in shallow water. Highest breeding densities occur in pothole marshes of aspen woodland. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Diet mainly small fishes, crustaceans and aquatic insects; also amphibians and leeches; aquatic insects predominate in summer, crustaceans and fishes in winter. Forages by diving in shallow water, often near emergent vegetation; also picks food from surface or from vegetation (Terres 1980, Johnsgard 1987). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 34/ / 453 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | BREEDS: central and southern Alaska and Canada south to Idaho, northern South Dakota, northern Iowa, and central Wisconsin, with the highest breeding densities in southwestern Manitoba; Iceland, Faroes, Eurasia. WINTERS: in North America, mainly along the coast south to California, Texas, Florida (less commonly interiorly, from the Great Lakes south); in Old World south to Mediterranean Sea, Iran, and Japan. Areas of highest winter density include northwestern Washington and the Gulf Coast near Pensacola (Florida); to a lesser degree, various national wildlife refuges along the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to southeastern Canada (Root 1988). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Apr 20, 1994 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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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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Cogswell, H. L. 1977. Water birds of California. Univ. California Press, Berkeley. 399 pp. |
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Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1992. Birds in Jeopardy: the Imperiled and Extinct Birds of the United States and Canada, Including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 259 pp. |
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Ferguson, R. S., and S. G. Sealy. 1983. Breeding ecology of the horned grebe, Podiceps auritus, in southwestern Manitoba. Can. Field-Nat. 97:401-408. |
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Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Johnsgard, P. A. 1987. Diving birds of North America. Univ. Nebraska Press, Lincoln. xii + 292 pp. |
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Oberholser, H.C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. 2 vols. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. |
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Root, T. 1988. Atlas of wintering North American birds: An analysis of Christmas Bird Count data. University of Chicago Press. 336 pp. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Podiceps auritus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).