Grebes | Podicipedidae

Futen | Somormujos

In the breeding season both sexes carry the same head and neck ornaments — crests, ruffs or coloured cheek patches — and perform an elaborate courtship together in mirrored postures on the water. The nest is a floating heap of wet waterweed anchored to reeds or branches; the eggs are chalky white but soon stain brown, and the bird covers them with plant material on leaving. The young are striped lengthwise in black and white, take to the water at once and climb in among the parents' back feathers, which carry them and even go under on a dive. Another mark of the family is that they swallow their own feathers and feed feathers to the chicks; in the stomach these form a plug that holds back bones and hard remains.