Critically Endangered
White-winged Flufftail
Sarothrura ayresi
The white-winged flufftail is a very rare African bird in the family Sarothruridae.
Appearance
It resembles its relatives in the Flufftail genus, but both sexes have dull plumage and dark crowns. In flight both sexes also show distinctive white secondary feathers, a feature shared only with the related genus Coturnicops. All those in the Flufftail genus are native to Africa, even so, none are more endangered than the White-winged Flufftail.
Range and habitat
The species has a seemingly disjunct range, being found north of the equator in Ethiopia, and south of it in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Third, there were only three spots found that differed in their mitochondrial DNA. Their natural habitat is highly specialized seasonal marshland of subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Breeding
Breeding season is estimated to be from June to September because this is when these birds have been spotted on breeding grounds. Nest sights are most likely chosen based on vegetation height and water depth since they prefer tall mixed sedges and shallow water.
In crisis
The estimated global population size of white-winged flufftails is less than 250 adults. The species is severely threatened by habitat loss, causes of that include grass trampling by cattle, grass cutting and drainage of swamps for pasture. Additional threats include flooding from dams, development of housing, and erosion.
In Ethiopia, human population growth adds pressure to crop farming, overgrazing, and harvesting sedges for livestock feed. The upper Berga wetlands had the best habitat available for nest sights but is under threat of habitat fragmentation.
White-winged Flufftail is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on White-winged Flufftail, Wikidata item Q278132. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
