---
title: "Little Grebe"
description: "Tachybaptus ruficollis — Birds. The little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), also known as the dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/little-grebe
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Little Grebe

> Tachybaptus ruficollis — Birds. The little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), also known as the dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds.

- Scientific name: *Tachybaptus ruficollis*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 64111
- Wikidata: [Q25421](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25421)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4237](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4237)

## Names

- en: Little Grebe
- de: Zwergtaucher
- es: Zampullín común
- fr: Grèbe castagneux
- nl: Dodaars
- pl: Perkozek

## Countries with the most observations

GB (5707), CN (5070), ES (3998), DE (3957), ZA (3561), IN (3348), IT (3317), FR (2949), TW (2456), JP (2418), RU (1904), PT (1740)

## Summary

The little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), also known as the dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek takhus "fast" and bapto "to sink under". The specific ruficollis is from Latin rufus "red" and Modern Latin -collis, "-necked", itself derived from Latin collum "neck".
At 23 to 29 centimetres (9 to 11+1⁄2 inches) in length it is the smallest European, Asian, and African member of its family. It is commonly found in open bodies of water across most of its range.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_grebe

## Photo

![Little Grebe](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/little-grebe/medium.jpg)

Photo: Alison JC Brown · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/153418707

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/little-grebe?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).