#finfoot

[herpsandbirds]

African Finfoot (Podica senegalensis), family Heliornithidae, order Gruiformes, South Africa

photographs by Bernophillipson Phillipson

[best-bird-tournament]

Gruiformes order

Which is the best bird?

Red-crowned crane

Limpkin

Sandhill crane

African finfoot

South Island takahe

Pale-winged trumpeter

White-spotted flufftail

Sungrebe

Voting ended onJan 10

[bird-of-the-day]

BOTD: African Finfoot

^Image credit: Paul Cools

African Finfoot (Podica senegalensis)

Part of the family Heliornithidae, the African Finfoot is an aquatic bird native to lakes and rivers of central, western, and southern Africa. They superficially resemble Grebes, but are not related to them. Their breeding season usually coincides with the rainy season.

[theanarcats]

Puffinpaw, medicine cat apprentice of TideClan

Puffinpaw’s full medicine cat name will be Puffinheart. Her mother is Squidleg and her father is Finfoot. Her mentor is Olmeyes. She has a brother named Oysterpaw.

Puffinpaw is a nurturer at heart and views the entirety of TideClan as her children, regardless of age. She is extremely attentive to detail and is her mentor’s eyes when he needs them. She enjoys playing games with the kits of the Clan on her downtime and is, apparently, the best at hide and sneak. She is quiet, but not very shy, and would defend her Clanmates with her life despite not training to be a warrior.

Puffinpaw is afraid of spiders and has a small and innocent crush on the deputy, Shorewave. She is close with both of her parents who are formidable and respected warriors.

[herpsandbirds]

African Finfoot (Podica senegalensis), male, family Heliornithidae, order Gruiformes, The Gambia

photograph by Ron Verdonk

[best-bird-tournament]

Finfoot (Heliornithidae) family

Which is the best bird?

African finfoot

Masked finfoot

Sungrebe

Voting ended onOct 26, 2025

This family contains just three species, all of them monotypic in their genera (Podica, Heliopais, and Heliornis).

[herpsandbirds]

Masked Finfoot or Asian Finfoot (Heliopais personatus), female, family Heliornithidae, family Gruiformes, found in South and SE Asia

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

photograph by myitchyfingers.wordpress.com

[herpsandbirds]

Sungrebe (Heliornis fulica), female, family Heliornithidae, order Gruiformes, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

photograph by George Scott