Birds of Singapore
by the Bird Society of Singapore
Heliopais personatus
Family: Finfoots · Status: Vagrant · Size: 52–54.5 cm · Conservation: Critically Endangered
Breeds in Northeast India, southern Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam; winters south to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, and Java. Likely extirpated from parts of its range. Largely sedentary, with movements poorly documented.
Male has thick yellow bill, grey hind neck and hindcrown, black throat and face with white border, brown upperparts, mostly brownish-white underparts, and bright green feet. Female resembles male but has white throat, upper foreneck and lores, and less black on crown. Juvenile is like female, though slightly browner on the upperparts and shows no black on the forecrown.
Rivers in broadleaved evergreen forest, mangroves, swamp forest, and occasionally pools and lakes away from forest.
Secretive, swimming with head jerking back and forth; forages by diving and picking food from the water surface.