Horned Grebe

The horned grebe, or Slavonian grebe, is a relatively small waterbird 31–38 cm long, with a wingspan of 55–74 cm and a weight of 300–570 g. The American name refers to the orange-yellow crest feathers above and behind the eyes, its horns. It has a moderately long neck, a flat forehead, a rear crown of black feathers and a dull white belly. The breeding plumage has bright erectable horns, black fan-shaped cheek feathers and an overall red-and-black colour (Wikipedia, general species account).

Two subspecies are recognised, one breeding across Eurasia, from Iceland east to the Russian Far East, and one in North America. It breeds primarily in boreal and subarctic regions with a frost-free period of about 90 days or less, and also in temperate zones, and both sexes share incubation for 22–25 days. The cached account gives no detail specific to India. SoIB 2023 lists it as a wetland bird of uncertain migratory status that eats vertebrates, and does not assign a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).