science education resource

Grebe (Australasian Crested) or Kamana

To view these resources with no ads, please Login or Subscribe to help support our content development.

School subscriptions can access more than 175 downloadable unit bundles in our store for free (a value of $1,500).

District subscriptions provide huge group discounts for their schools. Email for a quote: sheri@exploringnature.org.

Botaurus poiciloptilis
Grebe (Australasian Crested Grebe) or Kamana

Range

They are found in New Zealand.

Habitat

They live on mountain lakes with plenty of plant life around them for nesting materials and places to hide from bad storms.

Body Traits

They have a long, thin bill for catching fish. Their cheeks are reddish-brown with a black border. They have a black head crest and a long, thin neck. Their legs are set far back on their bodies so they are great swimmers and divers, but cannot walk well. So they rarely come onto land.

Habits

Pairs mate for the whole season. They have a fancy mating dance where they fluff up their feathers, chatter to each other and rise out of the water chest to chest. They are killed by birds of prey (raptors), and introduced animals like cats and weasels (stouts).

Diet

They eat small fish, insects and water plants.

To view these resources with no ads, please Login or Subscribe to help support our content development.

School subscriptions can access more than 175 downloadable unit bundles in our store for free (a value of $1,500).

District subscriptions provide huge group discounts for their schools. Email for a quote: sheri@exploringnature.org.

Reproduction

They build nests that float out in the water away from land and predators. They anchor the nests into underwater plants at the bottom. Females lay 1- 7 eggs. Both males and females take turns warming (incubating) the eggs. Chicks sometimes ride on parents’ back.

Grebe (Australasian Crested Grebe) or Kamana

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vetebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Ciconiiformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Botaurus
Species: B. poiciloptilis

Citing Research References

When you research information you must cite the reference. Citing for websites is different from citing from books, magazines and periodicals. The style of citing shown here is from the MLA Style Citations (Modern Language Association).

When citing a WEBSITE the general format is as follows.
Author Last Name, First Name(s). "Title: Subtitle of Part of Web Page, if appropriate." Title: Subtitle: Section of Page if appropriate. Sponsoring/Publishing Agency, If Given. Additional significant descriptive information. Date of Electronic Publication or other Date, such as Last Updated. Day Month Year of access < URL >.

Here is an example of citing this page:

Amsel, Sheri. "Grebe (Australasian Crested) or Kamana" Exploring Nature Educational Resource ©2005-2024. March 25, 2024
< http://www.exploringnature.org/db/view/83 >

Exploringnature.org has more than 2,000 illustrated animals. Read about them, color them, label them, learn to draw them.