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Red-necked Grebe Photographed at Bulbule Lake Was Nepal’s First Confirmed Record

Red-necked Grebe in winter plumage on water
Conservation · Population & status

A red-necked grebe (Podiceps grisegena) photographed at Bulbule Lake in Surkhet on 15 October 2025 has been documented in a 2026 paper as the first confirmed national record of the species in Nepal. The bird was seen at around 11:00, swimming and diving in the middle of the small freshwater lake, and was documented with photographs and video.

The identification was based on a dark to blackish crown, pale to whitish cheeks, a dusky grey neck, clean white underparts and a long, straight bill with a yellowish base and dark tip. The authors identified the bird as being in non-breeding or transitional plumage.

Before this record, Nepal had documented three grebe species: little grebe, great crested grebe and black-necked grebe. The confirmed red-necked grebe therefore raises the country’s documented grebe total to four species.

The authors describe the Surkhet observation as an extension of the species’ documented distribution. Bulbule Lake is a roughly 1.25-hectare freshwater wetland at about 656 metres above sea level.

Sources and image credit

  1. Guragain, S., & Chaudhary, S. (2026). First confirmed national record of Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) in Nepal: Documentation of a rare winter vagrant bird. Species, 27, e22s3299.Primary peer-reviewed research article, published 25 August 2026. It documents a Red-necked Grebe photographed and filmed at Bulbule Lake, Surkhet, on 15 October 2025 as Nepal’s first confirmed national record.

Image: Frank Sengpiel (frank103) — wild Red-necked Grebe in winter plumage at Lisvane Reservoir, Cardiff, Wales, 11 January 2024. Source: Wikimedia Commons / iNaturalist. CC BY 4.0. Representative winter-plumage image; not the Nepal individual. · CC BY 4.0 · Source

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