Feb 25 2010
Beyond Bounds: Anhinga
Is this a water turkey? Snake-bird? American Darter? Or Anhinga anhinga?
It’s all of the above.
The anhinga has many names because it’s such a strange bird. It has a large fan tail like a turkey and a long thin neck like a snake. It darts underwater and impales fish with its bill. Its Latin name came from its common name which came from a South American (Tupi) word for forest demon.
The anhinga genus are tropical birds that occur worldwide, anywhere there’s warm water, lots of sun, sticks to stand on and plenty of fish. Those in the Western Hemisphere are called “anhinga.” The rest are called darters.
Anhingas eat fish and they swim to catch them. Their hunting technique is to lurk and dart so they’re specially adapted to neither float nor sink. Often they swim with only their heads and necks visible. To achieve this neutral buoyancy they have dense bones and un-oiled feathers. When their feathers get wet, they get cold and must haul themselves out of the water and spread their wings to dry. That’s why they need lots of sun and sticks to stand on.
This, of course, means anhingas are practically unheard of in Pennsylvania. I don’t know of a sighting in southwestern Pennsylvania but anhingas do wander and occasionally appear in spring or fall along eastern Pennsylvania migration routes. When found, the bird is soaring and on the move. One or two lucky birders notice it … and then it’s gone.
But they seem to be everywhere in Florida, drying their wings. That’s where Kim Steininger photographed this one.
(photo by Kim Steininger)
A wonderful place to see anhingas (as well as lots of other birds, alligators, and other wildlife) is at Wakulla Springs State Park near Tallahassee, Florida. The jungle boat ride on the Wakulla River is a “must see” for visitors to Tallahassee…Anhingas are one of my favorites!
One summer evening maybe 5 or eight years ago I was sitting in the early evening in an open air restaurant on a barge in the strip district of Pittsburgh. Our table was right on the water. My friend and I are both bird watchers so we really sat up and took notice when an Anhinga flew up and sat in the rafters of the nearby 16th Street Bridge. He stayed for a while, then flew down and dove in the water. The fun is to find him again once he comes up, because he will swim quite a ways underwater before surfacing.
The first time I ever saw one was at the Pymatuning spillway. My immediate reaction was “What the heck is that?” So I made a point of stopping at the Nature Museum they have there, and there are stuffed specimens of just about everything that passes through that area, and sure enough, I was introduced to the Anhinga for the first time. Cormorants are similar in behavior and size, and I had to learn about them that day too. Ever after, when watching for birds on the river – if I see a cormorant or and anhinga – I feel like that’s a winner for that day.
They are amazing! I saw my first in a lake in FL several yrs ago, just its head and neck out of the water, and thought it was a snake! Like Barb, I had to go and do research. What’s really funny to see is when several of them are drying off on the same tree. It looks like some old crone has hung her entire wardrobe of black rags out after her Monday laundry. We saw them near Monterey CA 2 weeks ago also. Anne