Madagascar Grebe (Tachybaptus pelzelnii)
About the Madagascar Grebe
The Madagascar grebe (Tachybaptus pelzelnii) is a grebe found only in western and central Madagascar. The binomial name commemorates the Austrian ornithologist August von Pelzeln. It is classified as endangered by the IUCN, with a population of less than 5,000. It is threatened by habitat loss, predation by carnivorous fish, and competition with introduced species. The Madagascar grebe is around 25 cm long. It can be identified in its breeding plumage, consisting of a blackish cap and line down the neck, often reddish rear ear-coverts and sides of the neck, pale grey cheeks, throat and foreneck. Some individuals have a narrow whitish line under the eye between the cap and ear-coverts.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 30 recordings for this species: 17 CC BY-NC-ND · 13 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Madagascar in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Little GrebeTachybaptus ruficollisrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.