There are four species of darter, also known as snake birds: (1) the American darter or anhinga (Anhinga anhinga); (2) the Oriental or Indian darter (Anhinga melanogaster); (3) the African darter (Anhinga rufa); and (4) Australasian or Australian darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae).
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| This African darter stands in the top of a tree. |
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| A cormorant flies over illustrating its much smaller bill. |
I'm very familiar with the American darter which I've always called the anhinga which I've seen a lot of in Florida. The Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park is the best place to view wildlife in the Everglades and my first exposure to the Anhinga.
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| Some of these are darters and some of them are cormorants. |
While we were on a motorboat in the Okavanga Delta of Botswana we saw a lot of them lining the shore or standing in trees. I thought the guide was calling them "dakar" as in the capital of Senegal. I kept saying, or at least thinking, they look like anhingas. It was only later as I looked at a book that it dawned on me the guide was saying "darter." I never thought of the American version as a darter, always as an anhinga.
The main difference between the African and American darter is a white lateral neck stripe against a rufous background on the African darter which shows up quite clearly in the photos.
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| Many of these birds are darters, but there is also a sacred ibis (white), white-faced whistling ducks and cormorants. |
They are found throughout Sub-Saharan Africa wherever there are large bodies of water.
Their necks are very snake-like. Is that why they are called snake birds? That's hilarious about the guide saying "darter" and not "dakar," which is what I thought he was saying too.
ReplyDeleteWhen they swim under water all that is seen above is the long neck and bill, thus snake-bird.
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