HORNED GREBE - floating nest bird, clutсh covering bird, and more | Birds of Russia

Horned grebe are known for their floating nests and clutсh covering. During nesting, horned grebes are known to defend their nests very aggressively. Those nests are built from plant matter and are most commonly floating, or built on land or in shallow open water.

Horned grebe, or Slavonian grebe (podiceps auritus) is one of the two species of grebe nesting around Chaivo bay, Sakhalin island, Russia. Another species is red-necked grebe. As all grebe species they make floating nests. Their clutch typically consists of up to 3 eggs. The species got its name from large patches of yellowish feathers located behind the eyes, called "horns", that the birds can raise and lower at will. Horned grebes can be easily recognised by its red-and-black alternate (breeding) plumage, its black-and-white basic (non-breeding) plumage, and its characteristic "horns". It is 31–38 cm long, has a wingspan 55–74 cm wide and weighs 300–570 g.

The bird in the video made its nest in a water meadow. The water level there is constantly changing, but the nest is floating and it protects the birds from high water levels, as well as provides protection from land predators.
Horned grebes have a special feature: when they leave the nest, they cover the eggs with grass. Both males and females take turns incubating the clutch, but if one of the partners leaves before the second arrives, they cover the clutch so that it is not found by birds of prey - crows and magpies. It is a true evolutionary hack!

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P.S. Sorry for the wind sound and the quality of the audio! It was tough filming this bird in the meadow.
Cameraman is Alexey Bezrukov

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