Small game - birds

Anas crecca

Winter grebe (Anas crecca) is one of the smaller representatives of the duck family (Anatidae), order Goose-like (Anseriformes). The smallest duck, looking almost like a snipe in flight, with narrow, pointed wings and a short neck. Body length is about 30-38 cm, wingspan about 58 cm and weighs about 200-450 g. Takes off from the water easily, rises quickly and steeply upwards, flies in a dense, compact flock, with a fast and impetuous flight, often turning and changing the direction of flight. From a distance in flight it appears dark in colour, with a short broad white stripe above, mid-wing (in both sexes). The wing mirror is glossy. The male in breeding plumage has a brown head, with green sides, the green bordered by a thin yellow band. The sides of the underarm are light yellow, bordered with black, noticeable from a distance. There is a horizontal white stripe along the gray body. The female is brown with longitudinal dark stripes and spots. The waders resemble the female summer tern, but differ in: small size; the small beak, often with a bit of orange at the base; the relatively dark transocular stripe and the absence of a dark cheek stripe, which makes the head appear rather monochromatic; the lateral light spot at the base of the tail; chin and throat not so distinctly yellowish white. In flight, a sure distinguishing mark is the coloration of the wings; the abdomen has a light spot in the center with indistinct borders; the underwings are white in the middle and their edges are dark. Males in non-breeding plumage and juveniles closely resemble females, but juveniles are generally darker in plumage and their flanks are streaked (adult females have a more subtle scaly pattern). Nests practically all over Europe (including Bulgaria) and Asia. Winters in Africa, southern parts of Asia. Inhabits densely overgrown coastal areas.