Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
Breeding distribution change
Common resident, some nomadic and dispersive in winter
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Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2013
Atlas species lists
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More Little Grebe maps
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More maps for this atlas
Map explanation
This map shows where changes occurred in the breeding season distribution of the species in Wiltshire between 1995-2000 and 2007-2012, as revealed by the fieldwork for Birds of Wiltshire (Wiltshire Ornithological Society 2007) and the shared fieldwork for Bird Atlas 2007-2011 (BTO 2013) and for Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2007-2012.
Gains and improvements
Status
Nos tetrads
Absent to present
21
2%
Present to breeding
7
1%
Absent to breeding
21
2%
No change
Status
Nos tetrads
Present in both
8
1%
Breeding in both
40
4%
Losses and declines
Status
Nos tetrads
Present to absent
37
4%
Breeding to present
21
2%
Breeding to absent
48
5%
Little Grebes are found on still and slow moving waters from western Europe and northwest Africa eastwards to Japan and New Guinea and southwards to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar and the Indian sub-continent. They are mostly sedentary, though those breeding in central and eastern Europe and the colder parts of Asia migrate south and east to escape the harshest winters.
In Britain they were originally commonest in southern England and Wales but expanded northwards from the mid 19th century and are now widespread through most of lowland Great Britain. The range of their breeding season distribution expanded by 23% between the 1968-72 Breeding Atlas and Bird Atlas 2007-2011, though with some variations, up and down, between those dates.
Wiltshire's rivers, especially the Kennet and the Salisbury Avon and its tributaries, and other water bodies such as the Cotswold Water Park and the lakes around Swindon, provide suitable habitat for Little Grebes which are reasonably common throughout the county and probably under-recorded given their secretive nature. Against the national trend, theWiltshire breeding season distribution figures showed a marked decrease between Birds of Wiltshire, when they were recorded in 161 tetrads, with confirmed or probable breeding in 109, and WTA2 when they were recorded in only 118 tetrads with confirmed or probable breeding in 68.
References
The following references are used throughout these species accounts, in the abbreviated form given in quotation marks:
“1968-72 Breeding Atlas” – Sharrack, J.T.R. 1976: The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1981-84 Winter Atlas” – Lack, P.C. 1986: The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1988-91 Breeding Atlas” – Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.A. 1993: The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1988-91. T. & A. Poyser
“Birds of Wiltshire” – Ferguson-Lees, I.J. et al. 2007 : Birds of Wiltshire, published by the tetrad atlas group of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society after mapping fieldwork 1995-2000. Wiltshire Ornithological Society.
“Bird Atlas 2007-2011” – Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S. and Fuller, R.J. 2013: Bird Atlas 2007-2011: the Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland
“WTA2” – ("Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2 ") the present electronic publication, bringing together the Wiltshire data from “Birds of Wiltshire” and “Bird Atlas 2007-11”, together with data from further fieldwork carried out in 2011 and 2012.
"Hobby" - the annual bird report of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society.