Horned grebe
Podiceps auritus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The horned grebe (Podiceps auritus), also called the Slavonian grebe, is a bird in the family Podicipedidae and the order Podicipediformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 453 g and a wingspan of 62 cm.
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Quick facts about the horned grebe
This migratory, aquatic carnivore lives in wetland habitat and is classed as an aquatic predator. The horned grebe is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, a threatened category, and its geographic range covers 16,210,000 km².
- Weight
- 378 g – 453 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 62 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 6.46 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 13 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 23.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.13 – 4.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 23.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the horned grebe?
Photos of the horned grebe
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the horned grebe live?
Not recorded
What is the horned grebe?
The horned grebe or Slavonian grebe (Podiceps auritus) is a relatively small and threatened species of waterbird in the family Podicipedidae. There are two subspecies, P. a. auritus (Slavonian grebe), which breeds in Eurasia, and P. a. cornutus (horned grebe), which breeds in North America. The Eurasian subspecies is distributed over most of northern Europe and northern Asia, breeding from Iceland east to the Russian Far East. The North American subspecies spans most of Canada and some of the United States. A small population was cited in Greenland in 1973, but is not mapped or further mentioned by subsequent authors.
The American name 'horned' refers to the orange-yellow crest feathers located above and behind the eyes, called "horns". The English name, originally 'Sclavonian', is first attested by George Montagu in his 1802 Ornithological Dictionary, from Scalovia, an old name for northern Prussia, referring to the species' main breeding area in Europe; the spelling was emended (without any reason given) to the current 'Slavonian' by Hartert in 1912.
From the Wikipedia article “Horned grebe” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Horned_grebe&oldid=1365097959), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the horned grebe endangered?
The horned grebe is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.
How is the horned grebe classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPodicipediformes
- familyPodicipedidae
- genusPodiceps
- SpeciesPodiceps auritus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Dytes auritus, Fulica pisana, Pliodytes lanquisti, Podiceps auritus korejevi, Podiceps auritus var. korejevi, Podiceps cornutus, Podiceps howardae, Podicipes auritus
Other names and names in other languages (98)
- Slavonian grebeEnglish
- Slavonian grebeEnglish
- غطاس أقرنArabic
- طاس إسلوفينيArabic
- Parrulu CuelluroxuAsturian
- Qırmızıboyun maygülüAzerbaijani
- Ҡолаҡлы сыпҡайBashkir
- Чырванашыя паганкаBelarusian
- Коўра чырванашыйнаяBelarusian
- Чырванашыйная коўраBelarusian
- Ушат гмурецBulgarian
- Plomer bougennekBreton
- cabussó orellutCatalan
- Soterí de Coll BlancCatalan
- Якшар шӱӓн вишкӹрMari
- Хӑлхаллӑ чӑмкӑҫChuvash
- Хĕрлĕ мăйлă чăмкăçChuvash
- potápka žlutoroháCzech
- gwyach gorniogWelsh
- Gwyachod CorniogWelsh
- Nordisk lappedykkerDanish
- OhrentaucherGerman
- OhrensteißfußGerman
- ΧειμωνοβούττηςGreek
- ΧειμωνοβουτηχτάριGreek
- orelgreboEsperanto
- Zambullidor cornudoSpanish
- zampullín cuellirrojoSpanish
- sarvikpüttEstonian
- Txilinporta urrebelarriBasque
- Txilinporta urrebelarriaBasque
- کشیم گوشدارPersian
- کشیم گوشکدارPersian
- mustakurkku-uikkuFinnish
- GjørFaroese
- Grèbe esclavonFrench
- ToefdûkerWestern Frisian
- Beann-foitheachIrish
- Gobhlachan maraScottish Gaelic
- foitheach cluasachScottish Gaelic
- Mergullón realGalician
- Eean Kereen CleyayshaghManx
- Ušati gnjurac - ушати гњурацSerbian (Latin)
- טבלן לבן-לחייםHebrew
- füles vöcsökHungarian
- Սուզակ կարմրավիզArmenian
- FlórgoðiIcelandic
- Flórgo?iIcelandic
- svasso cornutoItalian
- ミミカイツブリJapanese
- წითელყელა მურტალაGeorgian
- Қызылмойын сұқсырKazakh
- 귀뿔논병아리Korean
- سۆنەبناڤکا شاخدارKurdish
- پێ بەقوونەی شاخدارKurdish
- OuerendaucherLuxembourgish
- raguotasis kragasLithuanian
- ragainais dūkurisLatvian
- ушест нуркачMacedonian
- Blonġun tal-WidnejnMaltese
- Ухаа шунгуурMongolian
- Náhookǫs biyaadę́ę́ʼ naalʼeełii keelóól diłhiłígííNavajo
- kuifduikerDutch
- horndukkarNorwegian Nynorsk
- horndykkerNorwegian
- Mustukulku-uikkuolo
- perkoz rogatyPolish
- سر پھمنی ڈبکنیWestern Panjabi
- mergulhão-de-penachosPortuguese
- Mergulhão-de-pescoço-castanhoPortuguese
- Sfunsella pailusaRomansh
- Corcodel de iarnăRomanian
- corcodelul de iarnăRomanian
- рогатая поганкаRussian
- Красношейная поганкаRussian
- Поганка красношейнаяRussian
- Пірникоза ушастаRusyn
- ČáhppesbuokčaNorthern Sami
- čáhppečotbuokčiNorthern Sami
- čáhppesbuokčáNorthern Sami
- potápka ušatáSlovak
- zlatouhi ponirekSlovenian
- Kredharaku me veshëAlbanian
- Ušati gnjuracSerbian
- Ушати гњурацSerbian
- Ušati gnjurac - Ушати гнјурацSerbian
- svarthakedoppingSwedish
- Kibisi MasikioSwahili
- கொண்டை முக்குளிப்பான்Tamil
- นกเป็ดผีหงอนเหลืองThai
- kulakli bataganTurkish
- kulaklı batağanTurkish
- Кызыл моюуннуг ырыксысTuvinian
- Пірникоза червоношияUkrainian
- Le cổ đỏVietnamese
- 角䴙䴘Chinese
- 角鸊鷈Chinese
- 角鸊鷉Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the horned grebe
Other species in the same genus Podiceps.
Great crested grebe
Podiceps cristatus
Black-necked grebe
Podiceps nigricollis
Red-necked grebe
Podiceps grisegena
Great grebe
Podiceps major
Silvery grebe
Podiceps occipitalis
Junin grebe
Podiceps taczanowskii
CompareHorned grebe vs Great crested grebeHorned grebe vs Black-necked grebeHorned grebe vs Red-necked grebeHorned grebe vs Great grebe
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the horned grebe?
The horned grebe is a bird in the family Podicipedidae, order Podicipediformes. It is also called the Slavonian grebe.
How heavy is the horned grebe?
The horned grebe has an adult body mass of 453 g, with a lowest reported value of 378 g. Its wingspan is 62 cm.
What does the horned grebe eat?
The horned grebe is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.
Is the horned grebe endangered?
The horned grebe is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How long does the horned grebe live?
The horned grebe has a lifespan of 6.5 years, and sources report values up to 13 years.
How many eggs does the horned grebe lay?
The horned grebe lays 4.1 eggs per clutch, with up to 4.5 reported, and has 1.5 clutches per year. Incubation lasts 23.5 days.
Who named the horned grebe?
The horned grebe, Podiceps auritus, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).
Where does the horned grebe live?
The horned grebe lives in wetland habitat and is migratory, with a geographic range of 16,210,000 km².
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Horned grebe (Podiceps auritus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/horned-grebe
“Horned grebe (Podiceps auritus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/horned-grebe.
@misc{horned_grebe_2026,
title = {Horned grebe (Podiceps auritus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/horned-grebe},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}