Black-necked Grebes, one of the rarest breeding birds in the UK, are dancing their way into nature lovers’ hearts following their best year on record at RSPB nature reserves.
Usually found in reedbeds and other well-vegetated wetlands, these small glossy black birds have vivid tufts of golden feathers behind their bright red eye and, at this time of year, begin to perform a captivating ‘dance’. This spectacular courtship display sees the male and female swimming in tandem, mirroring each other's movements, wagging heads and culminating in a ‘penguin dance’ as they rise up out of the water breast to breast. Once these efforts to woo a mate are successful, they go on to build floating nests amongst the reeds.
Following conservation efforts, breeding numbers of these striking birds are on the rise at RSPB nature reserves, especially at RSPB St Aidan’s Nature Park, near Leeds, which celebrated a record year for Black-necked Grebes in 2023 and is now home to around 30% of the UK breeding population of this rare and vulnerable species.
At the West Yorkshire nature reserve, habitat work has been undertaken by the RSPB’s expert conservationists, including a team of volunteers, in order to carefully manage water levels and create new areas of shallow water and dense reeds within which the birds can perform their dance, feed and nest.
The record 18 breeding pairs that were counted at RSPB St Aidan’s also fledged the joint second highest count of chicks, 12 in total. The fact that numbers of breeding pairs are increasing offers hope that future numbers of fledgling Black-necked Grebes will increase further.