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Koedoe 1 9: 169-17 0 (1976) 

THE BLACK-NECKED GREBE PODICEPS 
NIGRICOLLIS - A NEW BIRD RECORD FOR 
THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK 

A. C. VAN BRUGGEN 
Department oj Systematic Zoology and Evolutionary Biology 
c/o Ri;ksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie 
Leiden 
The Netherlands 

The avifauna of the Kruger National Park (KNP) was described in 
detail by Kemp (1974). However, species new to the list are bound to 
turn up occasionally. Joubert and English (1973), who discovered the 
occurrence of the crimson-breasted shrike Laniarius atroccoccineus 
Burchell, write: "Many of these species include migrants and vagrants 
entering the Park during rather abnormal times such as cyclones or 
periods of heavy rainfall." 

After having listed the scaly-feathered finch Sporopipes squamifrons 
(A. Smith), for the Kruger National Park list some 15 years ago (van 
Bruggen 1960), this note deals with an additional new record i.e. the 
black-necked grebe Podiceps nigricollis Brehm. On 1975.04.16 a specimen 
in winter plumage was observed by the author, for some time desport-
ing itself on Kumana Dam alongside the main road H 1-3 between 
Tshokwane and Satara. Notwithstanding rain and drizzle the bird was 
clearly recognizable and identification was confirmed by observation 
through binoculars 10 x 50. McLachlan and Liversidge (1957) show this 
grebe to be a vagrant occurring as far east as the eastern Transvaal, so 
that the KNP record naturally fits into this pattern of distribution. 
Usually this bird is to be found on the coast and only occasionally does 
it range far inland. This also applies to East Africa. In 1974 we observed 
a specimen in winter plumage in Kenya on the dam at Keekorok Lodge 
in the Masai Mara Game Reserve on 29 and 31 January; this is much 
further inland in a decidedly arid area. The KNP record may be corre-
lated with the unusually wet summer of 1974/7 5 in southern Africa. 
In this part of Africa the black-necked grebe is both a resident breeder 
and a migrant from the north. 

odd specimens are probably likely to turn up at irregular intervals 
in the eastern Transvaal. The KNP obviously has seemingly suitable 
stretches of open water to temporarily accommodate the black-necked 
grebe. 

REFERENCES 

JOUBERT, S. C. J. and M. ENGLISH. 1973. A new bird record for the 
Kruger National Park. Koedoe 16: 199-200. 

169 



KEM P, A. C. 1974. The distribution and status of the birds of the Kruger 
National Park. KoedoeMonograph 2:1-352. 

McLACHLAN, G. R. and R. LIVERSIDGE. 1957. Roberts Birds of South 
Africa. 2nd ed. Cape Town: Trustees of the S.A. Bird Book Fund. 

VAN BRUGGEN, A. C. 1960. Notes and observations on birds in the 
Transvaal, Southern Rhodesia, and Portuguese East Africa. Ostrich 
31 :30-31. 

170 


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