Great Crested Grebe
| Irish Name: | Foitheach mór |
| Scientific name: | Podiceps cristatus |
| Bird Family: | Grebes |
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Conservation status
Conservation status
Status
Resident along all Irish coasts. Less frequently seen inland, usually only following storms.
Identification
Resident, numbers increase during the winter due to immigrating birds.
Voice
Highly vocal giving loud far-carrying calls - mostly harsh, nasal, open-throated or guttural.
Diet
Mainly fish, sometimes supplemented with aquatic invertebrates.
Breeding
Age of first breeding: 2 years. Great Crested Grebes breed on large, shallow eutrophic loughs, and along canals and slow flowing rivers – wetlands with emergent vegetation bordered by open water are generally selected. Nests are a large mound of aquatic vegetation and are usually well concealed within reeds.
Wintering
Winter distribution is widespread with greatest concentration in the north midlands and northeast and birds from the continent join the resident population. Outside the breeding season Great Crested Grebes are often solitary with some birds moving to the coast through the winter. Occasionally, large congregations form for short periods. Birds start returning to breeding areas from mid-February.
Monitored by
The highest numbers of breeding pairs can be found on loughs in Counties Cavan, Armagh and Monaghan and there are 13 sites that regularly support nationally important numbers of Great Crested Grebes over the winter. Eight sites holding the largest concentrations are Belfast Lough (County Down), Loughs Neagh & Beg (Co. Antrim), Dundalk Bay (Co. Louth), Carlingford Lough (Co. Down), Lough Swilly (Co. Donegal), Upper Lough Erne (Co. Fermanagh), Cork Harbour (Co. Cork), Lough Sheelin (Co. Cavan).
Widespread resident waterbird, mainly of lowland areas.
