African finfoot
Podica senegalensis (Vieillot, 1817)
The African finfoot (Podica senegalensis) is a species in the family Heliornithidae, order Gruiformes. Recorded adults weigh 338 g to 627 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the African finfoot
- Weight
- 338 g – 627 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.35 – 2.4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the African finfoot
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the African finfoot live?
Not recorded
What is the African finfoot?
The African finfoot or Peter's finfoot (Podica senegalensis) is an aquatic bird from the family Heliornithidae (the finfoots and sungrebe). The species lives in the rivers and lakes of western, central, and southern Africa.
From the Wikipedia article “African finfoot” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_finfoot&oldid=1379926817), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the African finfoot endangered?
The African finfoot is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the African finfoot classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyHeliornithidae
- genusPodica
- SpeciesPodica senegalensis (Vieillot, 1817)
Synonyms Heliornis senegalensis, Podica mosambicana, Podoa josephina, Podoa mosambicana
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- AFFIEnglish
- Peter's finfootEnglish
- زعنفي القدم الأفريقيArabic
- heliorni africàCatalan
- chřástalec africkýCzech
- aderyn asgelldroed AffricaWelsh
- Afrikansk SvømmerikseDanish
- BinsenralleGerman
- afrika grebraloEsperanto
- Avesol africanoSpanish
- Podica senegalensisSpanish
- aafrika redulindEstonian
- afrikanuikkukanaFinnish
- Grébifoulque d'AfriqueFrench
- Grébifoulque d’AfriqueFrench
- afrički sunčacCroatian
- Pettyes búvárcsibeHungarian
- Svassorallo africanoItalian
- Rallo tuffatore africanoItalian
- アフリカヒレアシJapanese
- afrikinė skiautėtakojė vištelėLithuanian
- watertrapperDutch
- Afrikaanse FuutkoetDutch
- flekksvømmerikseNorwegian
- perkołyska afrykańskaPolish
- pés-de-barbatanasPortuguese
- pés-de-barbatana-africanoPortuguese
- Африканский лапчатоногRussian
- chriašteľovec pásavýSlovak
- Afrički sunčani gnjuracSerbian
- afrikansk simrallSwedish
- Afrika BatağanyelvesiTurkish
- лапчастоніг африканськийUkrainian
- 鰭腳日鷈Chinese
- 非洲鳍趾䴘Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the African finfoot
Other species in the same family Heliornithidae.
Masked finfoot
Heliopais personatus
Sungrebe
Heliornis fulica
CompareAfrican finfoot vs Masked finfootAfrican finfoot vs Sungrebe
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the African finfoot?
An adult African finfoot weighs 338 g – 627 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the African finfoot endangered?
The African finfoot is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the African finfoot?
The African finfoot (Podica senegalensis) belongs to the family Heliornithidae in the order Gruiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). African finfoot (Podica senegalensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-finfoot
“African finfoot (Podica senegalensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-finfoot.
@misc{african_finfoot_2026,
title = {African finfoot (Podica senegalensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-finfoot},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}