What kind of bird is an anhinga?

What is an American darter?

The American darter ( A. anhinga) is more commonly known as the anhinga. It is sometimes called “water turkey” in the southern United States; though the anhinga is quite unrelated to the wild turkey, they are both large, blackish birds with long tails that are sometimes hunted for food. Anhingidae are large birds with sexually dimorphic plumage.

How many species of darters are there?

There are four living species of darters recognized, all in the genus Anhinga, although the Old World ones were often lumped together as subspecies of A. melanogaster. They may form a superspecies with regard to the more distinct American darter:

What is the scientific name for a darter bird?

Darter, also called anhinga or snakebird, any of two to four species of bird of the family Anhingidae (order Pelecaniformes or Suliformes). The American species, Anhinga anhinga, is widely acknowledged as distinct, but there is debate regarding whether the darters that appear in Africa, Asia, and Oceania constitute one species…

What bird looks like a cormorant but has a hook tip?

This bird is often mistaken for the double-crested cormorant due to its similar size and shape, although the two species can be differentiated by their tails and bills. The tail of the anhinga is wider and much longer than that of the cormorant. The bill of the anhinga is pointed, while the bill of the cormorant has a hook-tip.

What does a darter bird look like?

The Darter is a large, slim water bird with a long snake-like neck, sharp pointed bill, and long, rounded tail. Male birds are dark brownish black with glossy black upperwings, streaked and spotted white, silver-grey and brown.

Why is a darter called a snakebird?

Because of its long and slender neck, the Australasian Darter is sometimes called the snakebird. Usually inhabiting freshwater wetlands, darters swim with their bodies submerged beneath the water’s surface, with only the sinuous neck protruding above the water, enhancing its serpentine qualities.

What is the scientific name for darter?

For other uses, see Darter (disambiguation). The darters, anhingas, or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae, which contains a single genus, Anhinga. There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and classified as near-threatened by the IUCN.

What is the difference between darters and walleye?

The pectoral fins of most darters are large and fan-shaped, while those of walleye and sauger are of a size and shape more typical of fish in general. Many species of darters do not exceed a length of 3 inches; the largest species, the logperch, rarely exceeds 7 inches.

What are the different types of darters?

The johnny darter is the only species that is widespread. The logperch and the fantail, orangethroat, and slenderhead darters are common in some streams. Four species of darters — the logperch, and the slenderhead, river, and western sand darters — are fairly common in the Mississippi River but are rare in the Missouri.

How many species of darters are there in Missouri?

Missouri’s darters are in the genera Ammocrypta (our 2 sand darters), Crystallaria (the crystal darter), Etheostoma (about 29 species), and Percina (about 12 species of roughbelly darters, including the logperches). The numbers are approximate because researchers using DNA data have been discovering new species.

What is the difference between a cormorant and a loon?

Double-crested Cormorants have more slender, orange or yellow bills with hooked tips (the hook can be hard to see at distance). They are more uniformly dark than Common Loons.

What type of fish is a darter?

The long-tailed, slim-necked darters are among the most specialized of an order full of specialization. While cormorants have hooked bills for snatching fish out of the water, darters are true anglers.

Are darters and cormorants the same?

But both cormorants and, in particular, darters are unique in having feathers that are less naturally water-resistant than other birds, an adaptation that enables them to forage underwater more easily.

What does a kinked neck bird look like?

The strongly kinked neck has a white or pale brown stripe from the bill to where the neck kinks and the breast is chestnut brown. Females and immatures are grey-brown above, pale grey to white below, with a white neck stripe that is less distinct in young birds.

When do darters breed?

The Darter is usually a solitary bird, forming pairs only while breeding. Breeding is erratic, happening whenever water levels and food supplies are suitable, but most often occurs in spring and summer.

How does a darter swallow a fish?

Small fish are swallowed underwater, but larger ones are brought to the surface, where they are flicked off the bill (sometimes into the air) and then swallowed head-first. The Darter is a large, slim water bird with a long snake-like neck, sharp pointed bill, and long, rounded tail.

What are the characteristics of a darter?

The Darter’s slender body, long, snake-like neck and its pointed, rather than hooked, bill distinguishes it readily from the bulkier cormorants with which it is often found.

How can you tell a common darter from a dragonfly?

The common darter can be distinguished from the similar coloured, but much smaller, large red damselfly by its thick abdomen and the way it holds its wings out at right angles to its body in typical dragonfly style. Its behaviour is another useful identification point. The ruddy darter is very similar to the common darter.

What kind of bird is a snakebird?

It often nests with herons, egrets and cormorants . It often swims with only the neck above water, hence the common name snakebird. This, too, is a habit shared with the other anhingas. Unlike many other waterbirds the feathers of the African darter do not contain any oil and are therefore not waterproof.

What is an African darter?

The African darter ( Anhinga rufa ), sometimes called the snakebird, is a water bird of sub-Saharan Africa and Iraq. The African darter is a member of the darter family, Anhingidae, and is closely related to American ( Anhinga anhinga ), Oriental ( Anhinga melanogaster ), and Australasian ( Anhinga novaehollandiae) darters.

What is the scientific name of the darter?

Oriental Darter. Scientific Name: Anhinga melanogaster. Malay Name: Kosa-Ular Asia. Chinese Name: 黑腹蛇鹈. Range: Found from Pakistan to India and Southeast Asia.

What kind of bird is an Oriental darter?

The Oriental Darter or Indian Darter (Anhinga melanogaster) is a water bird of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has a long and slender neck with a straight, pointed bill and like a cormorant, it hunts for fish while it hunts with its body submerged in water.

What is the smallest size of a darter?

Our smallest darter, the least darter, has a maximum length of just over 1¾ inches. Darters are adapted for life in the swift-flowing sections of clear, rocky streams. To keep them from being swept downstream, the gas-filled swim bladder found in most fishes is absent or much reduced in darters.

What does a darter fish look like?

Like other Missouri members of the perch family (including the larger walleye, sauger, and yellow perch), darters are slender, fairly cylindrical fish with rough-edged (ctenoid) scales. The fins have spines. The dorsal fin is divided into 2 separate parts, with 6 or more stiff spines in the forward part and fewer than 23 rays in the second part.