Divers | Gaviidae

Duikers | Colimbos

In summer a crisply patterned black-and-white plumage with striped or chequered upperparts and a coloured throat patch; in winter plain grey-brown above and white below, and in that season all the flight feathers are shed at once, leaving the birds unable to fly for some weeks. They swim low in the water with the pointed bill held level or slightly raised and fish by sight in clear water, seizing prey with a quick stab. The nest is a heap of wet vegetation right at the water's edge or a floating raft; almost always two darkly blotched eggs are laid, and the young take to the water within a day and ride on the parents' backs for the first few days. In flight the silhouette is hunchbacked, the neck drooping slightly and the big feet projecting past the tail, with fast, unbroken wingbeats and no gliding.