Horned Grebe
(Podiceps auritus)

Overview

Summary

© Jukka Jantunen (flickr.com/photos/jukka_jantunen)
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

More than 90% of the Horned Grebes in North America breed in ponds and lakes in western and northern Canada. A small isolated population nests on the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St Lawrence (COSEWIC 2009d). It is difficult to obtain precise trend estimates over a wide geographic area for Horned Grebe, but Christmas Bird Count data from the over-wintering population suggest little overall change in abundance since 1970. However, biases in coverage mean the reliability of this assessment is considered low. In 2009, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) designated the Western population as of Special Concern because of ongoing declines and numerous threats throughout the year, and the Magdalen Islands population as Endangered given its very small and declining size. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Given its very small size, the Magdalen Islands population is vulnerable to both demographic and environmental variation, as well as anthropogenic disturbance of breeders (COSEWIC 2009d). The Western population also faces threats to breeding sites from agricultural development and degradation of wetlands, the loss of nesting sites through drought or rising water levels, increasing populations of predators, and possibly competition with other grebe species (Stedman 2000, COSEWIC 2009d). During migration and winter, Horned Grebes are vulnerable to oil spills and mortality from entanglement in commercial fishing nets, while significant mortality has been linked to botulism and contaminant poisoning (Stedman 2000, COSEWIC 2009d). For information on the legal status of this species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and to view available recovery documents, see the SARA Registry.

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• COSEWIC. 2009d. COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus, Western population and Magdalen Islands population, in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vii + 42 pp. COSEWIC. 2009d. COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus, Western population and Magdalen Islands population, in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vii + 42 pp. (Link)
• Gerber, B.D., J.F. Dwyer, S.A. Nesbitt, R.C. Drewien, C.D. Littlefield, T.C. Tacha, and P.A. Vohs. 2014. Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Gerber, B.D., J.F. Dwyer, S.A. Nesbitt, R.C. Drewien, C.D. Littlefield, T.C. Tacha, and P.A. Vohs. 2014. Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)
• Routhier, D.D., K.W. Dufour, M.T. Bidwell, and R.G. Clark. 2014. Surveying populations of breeding grebes in prairie parkland Canada: Estimation problems and conservation applications. Wildlife Society Bulletin 38:14–17. Routhier, D.D., K.W. Dufour, M.T. Bidwell, and R.G. Clark. 2014. Surveying populations of breeding grebes in prairie parkland Canada: Estimation problems and conservation applications. Wildlife Society Bulletin 38:14–17. (Link)
• Stedman, S.J. 2000. Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Stedman, S.J. 2000. Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)