White-winged Flufftail :: Sarothrura ayresi

Bad at Goodbyes :: Episode 053

On today’s show we learn about the White-winged Flufftail, a critically endangered avian native to Africa, specifically Ethiopia and South Africa.

• (00:05) Intro
• (02:05) Species Information
• (22:47) Citations
• (24:52) Music
• (32:03) Pledge

For more information about White-winged Flufftail conservation see BirdLife South Africa at https://www.birdlife.org.za/red-list/white-winged-flufftail/

Research for today’s show was compiled from:

• African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement. International Working Group for the White-winged Flufftail – https://whitewingedflufftail-archieve.aewa.info/
• Bird, Jeremy, and Martin, Robert, and Akcakaya, H. Resit, and Gilroy, James, and Burfield, Ian, and Garnett, Stephen, and Symes, Andy, and Taylor, Joe. and Sekercioglu, Cagan, and Butchart, Stuart. (2020). Generation lengths of the world's birds and their implications for extinction risk. Conservation Biology. 34. – https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13486
• BirdLife International. 2021. Sarothrura ayresi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T22692245A179602552. – https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22692245A179602552.en
• Callahan, David. 2023. An African enigma: conserving one of the world’s rarest waterbirds. BirdLife International. – https://www.birdlife.org/news/2023/02/21/an-african-enigma-conserving-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-waterbirds/
• Colyn, Robin B., Alastair Campbell, And Hanneline A. Smit-Robinson. “Camera-Trapping Successfully and Non-Invasively Reveals the Presence, Activity and Habitat Choice of the Critically Endangered White-Winged Flufftail Sarothrura Ayresi in a South African High-Altitude Wetland.” Bird Conservation International 29, no. 3 (2019): 463–78. – https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270918000400
• Colyn, R. B., A. Campbell, and H. A. Smit-Robinson. 2020. The use of a camera trap and acoustic survey design to ascertain the vocalization and breeding status of the highly elusive White-winged Flufftail, Sarothrura ayresi. Avian Conservation and Ecology 15(2):12. – https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01681-150212
• Colyn, Robin, and Whitecross, Melissa, and Howes, Caroline, and Smit-Robinson, Hanneline. (2020). Restricted breeding habitat of the Critically Endangered White-winged Flufftail in Ethiopia and its conservation implications. Ostrich - Journal of African Ornithology. 91. 1-10. – http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2020.1737259
• Davies, Gregory & Smit-Robinson, Hanneline & Drummond, Malcolm & Gardner, Brett & Rautenbach, S. & Stuyvenberg, Dirk & Nattrass, C. & Pretorius, M. & Pietersen, Darren & Symes, Craig. (2014). Recent records of the White-winged Flufftail Sarothrura ayresi (Aves, Sarothruridae) in South Africa. Durban Natural Science Museum Novitates 37. 62-75. – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296695998_Recent_records_of_the_White-winged_Flufftail_Sarothrura_ayresi_Aves_Sarothruridae_in_South_Africa
• Lepage, Denis. "White-winged Flufftail (Sarothrura ayresi)." Avibase - The World Bird Database, Birds Canada, 2025. - https://avibase.ca/534D524C
• Marais, A. J., Lloyd, K., Smit-Robinson, H. A., & Brown, L. R. (2021). A vegetation classification and description of white-winged flufftail (Sarothrura ayresi) habitat at selected high-altitude peatlands in South Africa. Royal Society Open Science, 8(11), 211482. – https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211482
• Taylor, B., G. M. Kirwan, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). White-winged Flufftail (Sarothrura ayresi), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. – https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whwflu1.01
• Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-winged_flufftail

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A note on accuracy: I strive for it! These episodes are well-researched and built from scholarly sources, hoping to provide an informed and accurate portrait of these species. That said, I’m an ambient musician! I am not an academic and have limited scientific background. I may get things wrong! If you are using this podcast for scholarship of any kind, please see the cited sources and double-check all information.