African Finfoot

Birds > Finfoots & Rails

The African Finfoot (Podica senegalensis) is a bizarre, highly secretive aquatic bird belonging to the small, ancient family Heliornithidae. Neither a duck nor a grebe, this reclusive waterbird combines a slender, cormorant-like neck with a serrated bright orange bill...

Corncrake

Birds > Rails & Coots

The Corncrake (Crex crex), also known as the Landrail, is an iconic, secretive grassland bird of the rail family Rallidae. Famed for the loud, rhythmic, mechanical rasping ‘crex-crex’ song broadcast by males throughout summer nights, it has been...

Black Crake

Birds > Wading Birds & Shorebirds

The Black Crake (Zapornia flavirostra) is a small, charismatic waterbird in the rail family Rallidae, widespread across the lush freshwater wetlands of sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike most notoriously secretive and skulking crakes that remain hidden within dense reeds, the...

Verreaux’s Eagle

Birds > Birds of Prey

Verreaux’s Eagle (Aquila verreauxii), historically known across Africa as the Black Eagle, is one of the most specialized and striking apex raptors on Earth. Cruising along towering rocky escarpments, mountainous ravines, and kopjes across eastern and southern...

African Spoonbill

Birds > Wading Birds & Shorebirds

The African Spoonbill (Platalea alba) is a magnificent, snow-white wading bird in the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae, unmistakable for its flat, paddle-shaped bill and striking crimson-red face and legs. Widespread across the vast floodplains and Rift...