Animalia Life

Anhinga anhinga
TAXONOMY
Plotus anhinga Linnaeus, 1766, Rio Tapajуs, Parб, Brazil. Two subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Anhinga, American darter, snakebird; French: Anhinga d’Amйrique; German: Amerikanischer Schlangenhalsvogel; Spanish: Anhinga Americana.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Body length 34 in (85 cm), with a small head, relatively short wings, web-shaped tail, yellowish pointed beak, and yellowish legs and feet; male is colored overall black with silvery-white markings on the upper wings, while female has a brown head, neck, and upper chest.
DISTRIBUTION
Southeastern United States, Central America, South America south to northern Argentina.
HABITAT
Warm-temperate, subtropical, and tropical wetlands, rivers, lakes, swamps, and estuaries.
BEHAVIOR
Flies in a flap-and-glide manner, and often soars; often swims largely submerged, with only the head and neck exposed (this is how it got its common name, “snakebird”); roosts in trees, and dries its wet plumage by spreading its wings to the sun.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Catches and spears its prey of fish, crayfish, and amphibians by agile underwater pursuit. Tosses speared prey into the air with a flick of the head, then catches the prey in mid-air to swallow head-first.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Tends to breed in colonies; lays one to five eggs in a bulky stick-nest in a tree near water. Both sexes incubate the eggs (25–28 days) and care for the young.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened. Abundant throughout its range.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Not of much direct importance to humans, but often a favorite species of naturalists.

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