Mali gnjurac
- The little grebe is the smallest grebe in the Palearctic, about the size of a pigeon. It is the smallest of all grebes.
Старост
The little grebe develops through several distinct stages, beginning with an embryo developing inside an egg. Eyes open at birth for the young. The chick, after hatching, is covered in down and swims with its parents for a period of one to two months. This chick stage transitions into adulthood, when the bird is capable of reproduction, lasting from one to nine years. The species reaches sexual maturity between nine months and one week and one year and three months. A typical lifespan ranges from thirteen years and two months to twenty-one years and eleven months, although the maximum recorded lifespan is seventeen years and six months. The theoretical lifespan is between twelve years and three months and fifteen years and nine months.
Фенотип
The little grebe has red eyes that aid in underwater vision, and its beak changes color depending on age; young birds have a short beak that parents feed, while adults possess a short, sharp beak to catch slippery prey. Adult plumage varies seasonally, being dark brown with a reddish-brown neck and a yellow spot near the beak in summer, and grey-brown in winter. The adult’s feet are strongly set back, with webbed toes enabling rapid swimming and diving. Young birds are covered in thick down that protects them from cold water.
Физиологија
The little grebe measures from 25 to 29 centimeters in body length, with a wingspan of 42 centimeters and weighs 174 grams. The embryo stage has a body mass ranging from 12 to 16 grams and a body length from 3.5 to 4 centimeters. During the chick stage, the young have a body mass between 15 and 45 grams and a body length from 10 to 15 centimeters. The adult stage exhibits a body mass ranging from 140 to 200 grams and a body length from 25 to 29 centimeters.
Станиште
Little grebes inhabit temperate mixed forests with warm summers and many oak, birch, and maple trees; flooded meadows where water frequently covers the ground and there is abundant grass; shallow waters along shorelines where crabs reside; and taiga characterized by cold winters and numerous coniferous trees such as spruce and pine. The species also occupies freshwater bodies, freshwater shorelines and backwaters, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, land, and terrestrial forests; altitude above sea level reaches up to 2 kilometers. The climate varies, including very hot summers exceeding +25…+30 °C, consistently high humidity with nearly constant rainfall, frequent rain and cool summers with snow in winter, warm summers and abundant rain, and simply warm summers with mild winters.
Склониште
Little grebes are found on the water's surface among reeds or other vegetation. The species builds or uses a nest structure for laying eggs and raising young. The nest is constructed from algae and plant stems.
Географија
Worlds (biogeographic realms) – the Afrotropics realm, the Indomalaya realm, the Palearctic realm, the Freshwater realm, the Marine realm. Ecosystems (list all) – Celtic broadleaf forests, broadleaf forests of Western Europe, Euxino-Colchian broadleaf forests, beech forests of the English lowlands, Balkan mixed forests, Baltic mixed forests.
Храна
The little grebe is an active hunter that feeds on small fish, aquatic insects, crustaceans, and mollusks, catching prey with its beak while diving to shallow depths; the species obtains food through diving and underwater capture. Its diet includes beetles, butterflies, diptera (two-winged insects), hymenoptera (sawflies, wasps, bees), bedbugs, orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets), dragonflies, stoneflies, net-winged insects, calanids, cyclops, and euphausiids. The daily food requirement for the little grebe ranges from 40 to 80 grams.
Размножавање
Little grebes reach maturity between 1 and 2 years of age; pairs construct a floating nest on water. The brood size is 3 to 7 young, and both parents incubate the eggs and feed the chicks. The young are able to swim immediately. Reproduction occurs with an interval of 1 day, and the species has broods of 3 to 7.