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
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
Description
The African finfoot is an underwater specialist with a long neck, a striking sharp
beak
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for foo ...
, 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
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
's
torrent duck
The torrent duck (''Merganetta armata'') is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Merganetta''. It is placed in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae after the "perching duck" assemblage to which ...
.
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
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
, wooded
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
h, flooded forest, and even
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...
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 directly off the waters surface. They are adept out of water and will forage on the banks as well, unlike the grebes, which they resemble but are not related to.
Finfoots are usually seen singly or in pairs. They are very secretive. Even experienced ornithologists see them very rarely, making them a prized sighting for birders and twitchers. Because they are so elusive, it is not known if they spend most of their time in the water, where they are almost always seen, or on land.
Their time of breeding varies by area, usually coinciding with the
rainy season
The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs.
Rainy Season may also refer to:
* ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King
* "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni
* '' ...
. They build a nest, nothing more than a mess of twigs and reeds, on a fallen tree above the water. Two
eggs
Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...
are laid and
incubated solely by the female. The chicks leave the nest a few days after hatching.
Relationships
The African finfoot belongs to a family, Heliornithidae, whose only other members are the
masked finfoot and the
sungrebe. Their relationships between this family and other birds are poorly understood.
Status and conservation
The African finfoot's
conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservatio ...
is hard to determine, given its elusive nature. It is not considered threatened, as it is not persecuted or targeted by
hunters, and while scarce, it is very widespread. However, there is concern that it may become threatened, as
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...
s are cleared and watercourses altered and
polluted
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
. It is also thought to tolerate only minimal disturbance. This and increased
habitat fragmentation mean that the species needs to be monitored to safeguard it. There are currently no African finfoots in captivity.
References
* ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'', Volume Three, Hoatzin to Auks; ''de Hoyo, Elliot'' and ''Sargatal'',
External links
* African finfoot
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q261286
Heliornithidae
Birds of Africa
Birds of Southern Africa
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
Birds described in 1817
Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot