This small grebe dives for food. Breeding adults have a bold white fan of feathers on each side of the dark head.
In breeding plumage it has a white fan behind each eye, a dark head and back, a chestnut underside, red eyes, and a slender black bill.
It uses sheltered bays of lakes and lagoons with aquatic vegetation and sometimes slow rivers. It dives to catch small aquatic invertebrates and young fish.
In northwestern Patagonia, it is resident on Andean lakes but migratory on steppe lakes. It is usually solitary and may form small groups in winter.
In northwestern Patagonia, it nests among emergent plants; on steppe lakes, small colonies nest on floating vegetation. It also pecks food from floating plants as well as diving.
In northwestern Patagonia, nonbreeding birds have dark brown upperparts and a white face and throat. Juveniles look similar but have 2 black facial lines; chicks have brown stripes on a buff ground.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.