It looks like a duck, swims somewhat like a duck, but unlike the fat and greedy webfooted waterfowl, the little lobe-toed Australasian Grebe never begs for handouts. Small fish, aquatic invertebrates and their own feathers form the preferred diet of these dabchicks. At a pond in Brisbane's Botanic Gardens, two mutually intolerant individuals spun in tight circles before plunging into the weedy bottom for 20-second forays. One bird was rather more cooperative than its reputation warranted, popping up from its dives with fairly predictable regularity.
Widespread and in no danger of extinction, these antipodean grebes must wonder at the precarious state of affairs suffered by local kin, which enjoyed a brief resurgence a decade ago. They'd do well to pin their hopes down, for many pools in protected parts swarm with predators finned and footed, while other ponds in this garden city serve those who want their waterbodies so clean and clear that they are fit only for overfed fancy fish and families who want to enjoy nature without the threat of wildfowl and other unruly things.
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