#flufftail

photographs by Geoff Lockwood

Flufftail

the red-chested flufftail is a small bird closely related to rails and finfoots, both primarily marsh-dwelling birds. this bird also prefers swamp and marsh habitats; they are found in portions of south & sub-saharan africa. they are named for their unique short, fluffy tail with exposed downy feathers. males have a rust-colored head and chest and black body marked with white dots. females have an almost entirely brown body with paler white dots. these birds are very secretive and rarely observed in the field.

Flufftail is a fluffy pale brown tom

Buff-spotted Flufftail Sarothrura elegans ssp. elegans Ndundu Lodge, Vumba, Zimbabwe -19.11831, 32.77531 by bartwursten "...and then one day, the bird you desparately have been trying to see for ages, casually walks into your pantry. It may be that he really liked our place and that the same bird walked into the bar of our guesthouse a year later. See https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/41710372"