African Finfoot
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| Podica senegalensis (Vieillot, 1817) |
The African Finfoot, (Podica senegalensis), is an aquatic bird from the rivers and lakes of western, central and southern Africa. Like the rest of the family, the Masked Finfoot and the Sungrebe, the relationship to other birds is poorly understood.
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[edit] Description
The African Finfoot is over all an underwater specialist, with a long neck, and a striking sharp beak and lobed feet which are a bright red colour. The plumage varies by race, generally pale underneath and darker on top. The males are usually darker than the females. It resembles greatly South America's Torrent Duck, a clear example of convergent evolution.
[edit] Habits and Range
The African finfoot can be found in a range of habitats across Africa, 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 underwater 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 (unlike their namesakes, the grebes) and will forage on the banks as well.
Finfoots are not gregarious in habits, and 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. They build a nest, nothing more than a mess of twigs and reeds, on a fallen tree above the water. Two eggs are laid and incubated solely by the female. The chicks leave the nest a few days after hatching.
[edit] Status and Conservation
The African Finfoot's conservation is hard to determine, given its elusive nature. It is not considered threatened, as it is not persecuted of targeted by hunters, and while scarse, is very widespread. However there is concern that it may become threatened in the future, as wetlands are cleared and water courses altered and polluted. It is also thought to need minimal disturbance. This, and increased habitat fragmentation mean that the species needs to be monitored in the future to safeguard it. There are currently no African Finfoots in captivity.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Podica senegalensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 05 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume Three, Hoatzin to Auks; de Hoyo, Elliot and Sargatal, ISBN 84-87334-20-2
