African darter

How it lives

African darters nest in colonies, often with cormorants, herons and egrets, on stick platforms in trees or reeds over water. Clutches are about 3 to 6 eggs, and one source gives 2 to 7. Incubation is reported at about 22 to 30 days, and chicks fledge at about five to seven weeks. The feathers are not waterproof, so after feeding the bird spreads its wings in the sun to dry. It often swims with only its neck above the water.

Where it goes

The African darter is described as sedentary, so birds usually stay near the lakes, rivers and brackish water they know. I did not find tracking studies in the sources opened.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Least Concern (IUCN, 2024). Wikipedia calls it widespread and common across sub-Saharan Africa, and Biodiversity Explorer calls it fairly common in Zimbabwe, northern and eastern Botswana, South Africa and parts of Namibia and Mozambique. No population number was given in the sources opened. A related form, the Levant darter, once lived in Turkey, Israel and Iraq and disappeared from there during the 20th century.