“I was watching this Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) in the rain and managed to document this behaviour that I have seen previously.
“On this occasion it happened twice. The bird comes to the shallow end of the pond and rapidly lifts itself backwards, simultaneously ruffling the feathers and ‘twirling’ or shaking itself. It then falls forwards and the feathers generally settle down. The entire activity (see composite below) happens in less than a second; sequential images taken at 6 frames per second.
“There are no other grebes or birds around. It appears to me to be some sort of preening or stretching activity. As I have alluded to much earlier, the birds in our region are always in breeding plumage.”
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
16th January 2016
Location: Malim Nawar Wetlands, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Extensive ex-tin mining area with extensive pond/lakes, wetlands, fish farming
