Habitat and Range Description Food Breeding Sounds More Images Recent Literature

Sun-grebes, finfoots

Order: Gruiformes Sun-grebe

Family: Heliornithidae

3 species

HABITAT AND RANGE:

Central and S. America, Africa, Asia; habitat on margins of perennial waters overhung by forests or thick vegetation;

DESCRIPTION:

30-60 cm; bill strong, tapered, brightly colored; long neck, small head; wings short, rounded; tail long, graduated; legs very short, toes broadly lobed and brightly colored; solitary, wary;

FOOD:

feeds predominantly on insects;

BREEDING:

sexes similar; 2-7 eggs in nests of grass, twigs placed about 1 m above water; young cared for by male; in species with 2-egg clutch size, male carries young in flight in pockets of skin under wings.

SOUNDS:

MORE IMAGES:

RECENT LITERATURE:

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(Image taken from Ridgely, Robert S. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1976.)