Madagascan Grebe
Madagascar Little Grebe ( Tachybaptus pelzelnii )
The Madagascar Little Grebe ( Tachybaptus pelzelnii ) is a monotypic species of the family of grebes. The species is found only in Madagascar. The IUCN is one of the Madagascar Little Grebe to the endangered ( vulnerable ) species. The stock figures are generally very low and can go back due to introduced fish in Madagascar as well as the intensified fishing. In addition, the habitat is destroyed, the little grebe of Madagascar is dependent. The IUCN is therefore assumed that the stock decline will accelerate in the next decade.
The Artepithon pelzelnii carries the Madagascar Little Grebe in honor of the Austrian ornithologist August von Pelzeln.
Appearance
The Little Grebe reaches a body length of 22-27 centimeters and weighs about 145 grams. What is striking is the relatively slender beak. The males are slightly larger than females and tend to have the slightly longer beak.
In breeding plumage the top of the head is black to the eyes. The throat is light gray. The ear patches are yellowish brown. The nape is gray, the chest is rußgrau. The body top and the sides are sooty-brown, contrasting with the large white spots, which are located on the flanks. The body is pale gray. The eyes are dark red. The beak is mostly yellow. However, during the breeding season, it is black with a white tip. The feet are greenish. In plumage plumage colouration is overall somewhat dull. It then lacks the yellowish brown ears spots.
The voice resembles that of the dwarf diver, but the pitch is slightly darker overall.
Area of distribution and habitat
The Madagascar Little Grebe lives only in Madagascar and was used in historical times on the island and also populated altitudes up to 2,000 meters above sea level. Meanwhile, lack of Madagascar Little Grebe in parts of its original distribution area and in other areas a rare kind, the highest population density is present in the west and in the center of Madagascar, where couples and single living Madagascar Little Grebe colonize the numerous small ponds and lakes. On the Lake Alaotra, which was formerly inhabited by the hundreds of Madagascar dwarf divers, the Delacour grebes as well as in smaller numbers by the common grebe, there was already in 1985, only ten to twenty individuals. The Lake Alaotra went through in the second half of the 20th century a very strong change, but so takes place to a lesser extent in other waters of Madagascar. Due to the silting of the bank and the introduction of fertilizers in the lake there were dramatic changes in the microfauna. Exotic fish were introduced, for example, tilapia, which ate up the water lilies and so the birds took the nesting material, and largemouth bass, which ate the food of both divers and their young. In the 1980s, in addition predatory snakeheads were introduced that adjust the divers and their offspring.
The exact inventory of the Madagascar dwarf diver is not precisely known. The IUCN estimates the backlog at 1,500 to 2,000 individuals and expects that the stocks the next ten years to fall further. The inventory decline contribute introduced fish, on the one hand eat the chicks, but also reduce the availability of food resources for the Madagascar Little Grebe. Wetlands, which give the Madagascar Little Grebe retreats are also increasingly converted into rice fields.
As habitat prefers the Madagascar Little Grebe shallow lakes and ponds with a dense growth of water lilies. Occasionally, it is also found in brackish water and slow rivers.
Behavior
The food spectrum of the Madagascar dwarf diver comprises mainly insects. He also eats fish and to a lesser extent, crustaceans. In ponds with larger fish he often missing. There is rather the common grebe, which is also found in Europe. Madagascar little grebe are mostly non-migratory birds. However, you go hiking to find suitable habitats. The breeding season falls in the period from August to March. Breeding pairs are territorial in general, but it depends on waters, offering a particularly suitable living conditions, also, that the nests are built in close proximity to each other. Already loose colonies were observed, which included up to 150 individuals. The nest is a floating platform of aquatic plants, which is usually anchored to floating plants. It is often located in the vicinity of water lilies. The clutch size is three to four eggs.