Heliornithidae
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Heliornithidae
The Heliornithidae are a small family of tropical birds with webbed lobes on their feet like those of grebes and coots. The family overall are known as finfoots, although one species is known as a sungrebe. The family is composed of three species in three genera. Description Finfoots resemble rails; they have long necks, slender bodies, broad tails, and sharp, pointed bills. They have a diverse range of calls, but do not call frequently. Their legs and feet are brightly coloured and, unlike grebes, they are capable of walking well and even moving quickly on land. Habitat Finfoots are found in numerous habitats in the tropics as long as there is water and cover. It is uncertain why cover is so essential to finfoots, but they are extremely secretive and often overlooked. Their ranges extend from coastal creeks to fast-moving mountain streams, most commonly being found in large slow-moving bodies of water. They also use swamps, reed beds, mangroves, and forest. Finfoots are terr ...
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Sungrebe
The sungrebe (''Heliornis fulica'') is a small aquatic gruiform found in the tropical and subtropical Americas from northeastern Mexico to central Ecuador and southern Brazil.Luo, Miles. K. (2009, October 16). ''Heliornis fulica'' (T. S. Schulenberg, Ed.). Retrieved December 10, 2012, from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website: http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=142196 It is the only living member of the genus ''Heliornis''. The family Heliornithidae, to which it belongs, contains just two other species: the African finfoot, ''Podica senegalensis'', found in the Afrotropics from Sub-saharan West Africa and the Congo Basin through the Great Lakes' western shores to Southeast Africa, and the Asian or masked finfoot ''Heliopais personatus'', found from eastern Indomalaya down through Sundaland to the Wallace Line. These waterfowl have broad lobes on their feet, convergent to that of grebes or coots, that they use to propel themselves in the wat ...
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Heliornis Fulica
The sungrebe (''Heliornis fulica'') is a small aquatic gruiform found in the tropical and subtropical Americas from northeastern Mexico to central Ecuador and southern Brazil.Luo, Miles. K. (2009, October 16). ''Heliornis fulica'' (T. S. Schulenberg, Ed.). Retrieved December 10, 2012, from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website: http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=142196 It is the only living member of the genus ''Heliornis''. The family Heliornithidae, to which it belongs, contains just two other species: the African finfoot, ''Podica senegalensis'', found in the Afrotropics from Sub-saharan West Africa and the Congo Basin through the Great Lakes' western shores to Southeast Africa, and the Asian or masked finfoot ''Heliopais personatus'', found from eastern Indomalaya down through Sundaland to the Wallace Line. These waterfowl have broad lobes on their feet, convergent to that of grebes or coots, that they use to propel themselves in the wat ...
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Sungrebe
The sungrebe (''Heliornis fulica'') is a small aquatic gruiform found in the tropical and subtropical Americas from northeastern Mexico to central Ecuador and southern Brazil.Luo, Miles. K. (2009, October 16). ''Heliornis fulica'' (T. S. Schulenberg, Ed.). Retrieved December 10, 2012, from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website: http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=142196 It is the only living member of the genus ''Heliornis''. The family Heliornithidae, to which it belongs, contains just two other species: the African finfoot, ''Podica senegalensis'', found in the Afrotropics from Sub-saharan West Africa and the Congo Basin through the Great Lakes' western shores to Southeast Africa, and the Asian or masked finfoot ''Heliopais personatus'', found from eastern Indomalaya down through Sundaland to the Wallace Line. These waterfowl have broad lobes on their feet, convergent to that of grebes or coots, that they use to propel themselves in the wat ...
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Heliornithidae
The Heliornithidae are a small family of tropical birds with webbed lobes on their feet like those of grebes and coots. The family overall are known as finfoots, although one species is known as a sungrebe. The family is composed of three species in three genera. Description Finfoots resemble rails; they have long necks, slender bodies, broad tails, and sharp, pointed bills. They have a diverse range of calls, but do not call frequently. Their legs and feet are brightly coloured and, unlike grebes, they are capable of walking well and even moving quickly on land. Habitat Finfoots are found in numerous habitats in the tropics as long as there is water and cover. It is uncertain why cover is so essential to finfoots, but they are extremely secretive and often overlooked. Their ranges extend from coastal creeks to fast-moving mountain streams, most commonly being found in large slow-moving bodies of water. They also use swamps, reed beds, mangroves, and forest. Finfoots are terr ...
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African Finfoot
The African finfoot (''Podica senegalensis'') is an aquatic bird from the family Heliornithidae (the finfoots and sungrebe). The species lives in the rivers and lakes of western, central, and southern Africa. Description The African finfoot is an underwater specialist with a long neck, a striking sharp beak, and bright red, lobed feet. The plumage varies by race, generally pale underneath and darker on top. The males are usually darker than the females. It superficially resembles South America's torrent duck. Habits and range The African finfoot can be found in a range of habitats across Africa, in areas where there are rivers, streams, and lakes with good cover on the banks. This range includes forest, wooded savannah, flooded forest, and even mangrove swamps. The finfoot feeds on aquatic invertebrates, including both adults and larval mayflies, dragonflies, crustaceans, also snails, fish and amphibians. They are thought to be highly opportunistic and take some of their pr ...
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Podica Senegalensis
The African finfoot (''Podica senegalensis'') is an aquatic bird from the family Heliornithidae (the finfoots and sungrebe). The species lives in the rivers and lakes of western, central, and southern Africa. Description The African finfoot is an underwater specialist with a long neck, a striking sharp beak, and bright red, lobed feet. The plumage varies by race, generally pale underneath and darker on top. The males are usually darker than the females. It superficially resembles South America's torrent duck. Habits and range The African finfoot can be found in a range of habitats across Africa, in areas where there are rivers, streams, and lakes with good cover on the banks. This range includes forest, wooded savannah, flooded forest, and even mangrove swamps. The finfoot feeds on aquatic invertebrates, including both adults and larval mayflies, dragonflies, crustaceans, also snails, fish and amphibians. They are thought to be highly opportunistic and take some of their prey d ...
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Masked Finfoot
The masked finfoot or Asian finfoot (''Heliopais personatus'') is a highly endangered aquatic bird that was formerly distributed throughout the fresh and brackish wetlands of the eastern Indian subcontinent, Indochina, Malaysia and Indonesia. Like the rest of the family, the African finfoot and the sungrebe, the relationship to other birds is poorly understood. Description The masked finfoot is an underwater specialist with a long neck, a striking sharp beak, and lobed feet which are green. Both males and females have a black mask and eyebrow that contrasts with a white eyering and lateral cervical stripe. The rest of the neck is grey, the breast is pale and the back, wings, and tail are a rich brown. The males have an all-black chin while the females have a white chin. Habits and range The masked finfoot can be found in a range of habitats across the eastern Indian subcontinent through to Malaysia and Indonesia in a variety of fresh to brackish wetlands, although due to habi ...
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Masked Finfoot
The masked finfoot or Asian finfoot (''Heliopais personatus'') is a highly endangered aquatic bird that was formerly distributed throughout the fresh and brackish wetlands of the eastern Indian subcontinent, Indochina, Malaysia and Indonesia. Like the rest of the family, the African finfoot and the sungrebe, the relationship to other birds is poorly understood. Description The masked finfoot is an underwater specialist with a long neck, a striking sharp beak, and lobed feet which are green. Both males and females have a black mask and eyebrow that contrasts with a white eyering and lateral cervical stripe. The rest of the neck is grey, the breast is pale and the back, wings, and tail are a rich brown. The males have an all-black chin while the females have a white chin. Habits and range The masked finfoot can be found in a range of habitats across the eastern Indian subcontinent through to Malaysia and Indonesia in a variety of fresh to brackish wetlands, although due to habi ...
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Rail (bird)
The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, although the family is found in every terrestrial habitat except dry deserts, polar regions, and alpine areas above the snow line. Members of the Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. Numerous island species are known. The most common rail habitats are marshland and dense forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation.Horsfall & Robinson (2003): pp. 206–207 Name "Rail" is the anglicized respelling of the French ''râle'', from Old French ''rasle''. It is named from its harsh cry, in Vulgar Latin *''rascula'', from Latin ''rādere'' ("to scrape"). Morphology The rails are a family of small to medium-sized, ground-living birds. They vary in length from and in weight from . Some species have long necks and in many ca ...
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Bird Families
This article lists living orders and families of birds. The links below should then lead to family accounts and hence to individual species. The passerines (perching birds) alone account for well over 5,000 species. In total there are about 10,000 species of birds described worldwide, though one estimate of the real number places it at almost twice that. Taxonomy is very fluid in the age of DNA analysis, so comments are made where appropriate, and all numbers are approximate. In particular see Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy for a very different classification. Phylogeny Cladogram of modern bird relationships based on Jarvis, E.D. et al. (2014) with some clade names after Yuri, T. et al. (2013). Paleognathae The Paleognathae, or "old jaws", are one of the two superorders recognized within the taxonomic class Aves and consist of the ratites and tinamous. The ratites are mostly large and long-legged, flightless birds, lacking a keeled sternum. Traditionally, all the ratites we ...
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Heliopais Personatus
The masked finfoot or Asian finfoot (''Heliopais personatus'') is a highly endangered aquatic bird that was formerly distributed throughout the fresh and brackish wetlands of the eastern Indian subcontinent, Indochina, Malaysia and Indonesia. Like the rest of the family, the African finfoot and the sungrebe, the relationship to other birds is poorly understood. Description The masked finfoot is an underwater specialist with a long neck, a striking sharp beak, and lobed feet which are green. Both males and females have a black mask and eyebrow that contrasts with a white eyering and lateral cervical stripe. The rest of the neck is grey, the breast is pale and the back, wings, and tail are a rich brown. The males have an all-black chin while the females have a white chin. Habits and range The masked finfoot can be found in a range of habitats across the eastern Indian subcontinent through to Malaysia and Indonesia in a variety of fresh to brackish wetlands, although due to habitat ...
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Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also sometimes i ...
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