After posting images of an African Finfoot on Facebook on 1 May 2022 I received the most feedback I have ever had for a post about birds. In addition to the kind words of appreciation and references to the elusive nature of the bird, there were comments about being lucky and just at the right place at the right time. Indeed, seeing an African Finfoot does always involve a bit of luck; getting decent photographs, even more so. But luck only gets you so far. Understanding habitat and behaviour is far more rewarding than waiting to be lucky or being in the right place at the right time.
From the SABAP2 website it is clear that finfoot records are sparsely distributed, with most sightings being along the coast of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal and scattered reports in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng. The sightings suggest a very low reporting rate, either between 0.1 per cent and five per cent or incidental reports. With reporting rates that low, it might suggest that the African Finfoot is mostly overlooked by birders, both as a result of its elusive nature and our lack of understanding of its behaviour.
They are there, we just don't see them.
On the Bird Pro app Peter Ginn states that where suitable habitat occurs, the African Finfoot is not rare, merely secretive.
A bit of luck - and a lot of hard work
I was very lucky to find this bird initially, but there is more to these photographs than pure luck. This is the story behind my images...
Denne historien er fra September/October 2022-utgaven av African Birdlife.
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Denne historien er fra September/October 2022-utgaven av African Birdlife.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
