# Red-necked grebe (*Podiceps grisegena*)

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

The red-necked grebe (Podiceps grisegena) is a bird in the family Podicipedidae and order Podicipediformes. It is a medium-sized bird with a representative adult body mass of 1.023 kg and a wingspan of 72.5 cm. This migratory, aquatic species lives in wetland habitat and is a carnivore classed as an aquatic predator. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 785.4 g – 1.02 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 72.5 cm |
| Lifespan | 4.8 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 11 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 21.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4.5 |
| Age at maturity | 23.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.5 |
| Lifestyle | Aquatic |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Podicipediformes
- family: Podicipedidae
- genus: Podiceps
- species: *Podiceps grisegena* (Boddaert, 1783)

Synonyms: *Colymbus subcristatus*, *Pedetaithya subcristata*, *Podiceps griseigena*, *Podiceps subcristatus*, *Podicipes grisegena*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the red-necked grebe?

The red-necked grebe is a bird in the family Podicipedidae, order Podicipediformes. It is a migratory, aquatic species.

### How heavy is the red-necked grebe?

Its representative adult body mass is 1.023 kg, which places it in the medium size class. Its wingspan is 72.5 cm.

### What does the red-necked grebe eat?

The red-necked grebe is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.

### What habitat does the red-necked grebe live in?

It lives in wetland habitat.

### Is the red-necked grebe endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the red-necked grebe live?

Its lifespan is given as 4.8 years, with the highest value reported by our sources being 11 years.

### How many eggs does the red-necked grebe lay?

It lays 4.5 eggs per clutch and has 1.5 clutches per year. Incubation lasts 21.5 days.

### Who named the red-necked grebe?

Its scientific name, Podiceps grisegena, carries the authority (Boddaert, 1783).

## 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: Red-necked grebe (Podiceps grisegena). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-necked-grebe