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...

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...

Squacco Heron

Birds > Wading Birds & Shorebirds

The Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides) is a small, stocky pond heron with a dramatic optical secret: while perched motionless among reeds it appears completely tawny-buff and cryptic, but the instant it takes flight it unfolds dazzling, pure white wings that flash like...