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BTO Blueline
GREAT CRESTED GREBE
Podiceps cristatus
Great Crested Grebe © Mike Weston
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
Conservation listings
Europe: no SPEC category (favourable conservation status in Europe, not concentrated in Europe)
UK: green
Long-term trend
UK: probable increase
UK population size
9,400 adults in 1990 (1988–91 Atlas: APEP06); 6,100 pairs in 2000 (updated using BBS trend: BiE04)
Status summary
This species was believed to be on the verge of extinction in Britain around 1860, when only 32–72 pairs were known in England (Holloway 1996). A subsequent increase followed reductions in persecution, aided by statutory protection, and the creation of habitat in the form of gravel pits (Gibbons et al. 1993). Increase was tracked by special surveys to around 7,000 adult birds in Britain by 1975 (Hughes et al. 1979). The BBS provides the first annual, national monitoring of this species and indicates shallow increase since 1994. Winter numbers, monitored by WeBS, have shown sustained shallow increase (Austin et al. 2008).
 

Population changes
BBS UK graph
 
Table of population changes for Great Crested Grebe

Source Period
(yrs)		 Years Plots
(n)		 Change
(%)		 Lower
limit		 Upper
limit		 Alert Comment
BBS UK 11 1995-2006 63 31 -23 112    
  10 1996-2006 65 38 -19 124    
  5 2001-2006 71 54 -8 160    
BBS England 11 1995-2006 58 -11 -27 15    
  10 1996-2006 58 -8 -25 13    
  5 2001-2006 65 5 -13 23    

BBS acknowledgement
 
BBS England graph
 

Productivity trends
Productivity information is not currently available for this species
 

Additional information
BTO blue divider
 

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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Leech, D.I., Joys, A.C., Noble, D.G.,
Barimore, C., Grantham, M.J., Risely, K. & Robinson, R.A. (2009).
Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2008.
BTO Research Report No. 516. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Iain Downie, Mandy T Andrews and Laura Smith: Last updated 18.02.2009