# Horned grebe (*Podiceps auritus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/horned-grebe  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 378 g – 453 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 62 cm |
| Lifespan | 6.46 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 13 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 23.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4.13 – 4.5 |
| Age at maturity | 23.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.5 |
| Lifestyle | Aquatic |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Vulnerable (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Podicipediformes
- family: Podicipedidae
- genus: Podiceps
- species: *Podiceps auritus* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Dytes auritus*, *Fulica pisana*, *Pliodytes lanquisti*, *Podiceps auritus korejevi*, *Podiceps auritus var. korejevi*, *Podiceps cornutus*, *Podiceps howardae*, *Podicipes auritus*

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Horned grebe (Podiceps auritus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/horned-grebe