Snake Bird

I found this interesting bird during my last trip to Florida, the name given by the native Brazilians fit them right. This bird’s neck movements are such as a snake.

The Anhinga Anhinga anhinga, sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird.

It is a cormorant-like bird with an average body length of 85 cm (33 in), a wingspan of (46 in), and a mass of up to (3.0 lb). It is a dark-plumaged piscivore with a very long neck, and often swims with only the neck above water. When swimming in this style the name snakebird is apparent, since only the colored neck appears above water the bird looks like a snake ready to strike. They do not have external nares (nostrils) and breathe solely through their epiglottis.

The anhinga is placed in the darter family, Anhingidae, and is closely related to Indian (Anhinga melanogaster), African (A. rufa), and Australian (A. novaehollandiae) darters. Like other darters, the anhinga hunts by spearing fishes and other small prey using its sharp, slender beak.

Photo Gallery

Tags: Anhinga, birds, nature, photography, photos of birds

23 thoughts on “Snake Bird”

T Ibara Photo on January 7, 2015 at 7:59 am said:

What beautiful photographs of an interesting bird!
Thank you for sharing 🙂

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- avian101 on January 7, 2015 at 9:05 am said:
  
  Thank you very much T.! 🙂
  
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susanpoozan on January 7, 2015 at 8:15 am said:

How interesting and lovely pictures.

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- avian101 on January 7, 2015 at 9:07 am said:
  
  Thank you so much Susan! 🙂
  
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kathydoremus on January 7, 2015 at 9:21 am said:

That is one cool looking bird.

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- avian101 on January 7, 2015 at 9:25 am said:
  
  Oh yes! Thank you Kathy! 🙂
  
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Kamila Pala on January 7, 2015 at 9:27 am said:

Really special name – snakebird – 🙂 I like it and you have very beautiful set of photos…as always! Bye. Kamila

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- avian101 on January 7, 2015 at 9:33 am said:
  
  Thanks so much Kamila! 🙂
  
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clarepooley33 on January 7, 2015 at 4:19 pm said:

It does look like a cormorant! Good shots as always HJ!

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- avian101 on January 7, 2015 at 4:27 pm said:
  
  Thank you very much Clare! 🙂
  
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Jane on January 7, 2015 at 6:46 pm said:

It reminds me of our cormorants. Very interesting bird and great shots! Thanks for another lovely post. 🙂

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- avian101 on January 7, 2015 at 6:50 pm said:
  
  Thank you very much Jane! 🙂
  
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Beautiful birds on January 7, 2015 at 8:20 pm said:

Hmm very intresting bird! Great photos HJ!

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- avian101 on January 7, 2015 at 9:57 pm said:
  
  Thank you Bella! 🙂
  
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Tiny on January 7, 2015 at 10:08 pm said:

Great shots! The long neck truly resembles a snake! I got my first good shot ever only just a few weeks ago after seeing them in the water many times.

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- avian101 on January 7, 2015 at 10:28 pm said:
  
  Thanks Tiny for sharing! 🙂
  
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Euphonos on January 7, 2015 at 10:31 pm said:

Interesting. I love birds. Glad to get acquainted with you.
By the way, I nominated your blog for the One Lovely Blog Award. If you accept, click the link below for details on what to do next.

http://euphonosbooks.com

Cheers
Euphie

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- avian101 on January 8, 2015 at 1:16 pm said:
  
  Thanks Euphie for the nomination but I should tell you that my Blog is Award Free. I do appreciate your gesture toward my work. I’m sorry by I must decline the Award with all my respect. H.J. 🙂
  
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  - Euphonos on January 8, 2015 at 3:40 pm said:
    
    No worries
aussiebirder on January 8, 2015 at 4:04 pm said:

Your American Darter is slightly different to our Aussie one, but equally interesting, especially when they dry off their wings. I have some pics and footage of baby darter chicks I took recently of father feeding babies in nest, they look so strange, like snakes. The baby would push its head into the fathers throat and shake it. Thanks for the lovely pics

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- avian101 on January 8, 2015 at 5:53 pm said:
  
  I saw your video Ashley, you’re right about the similarity between the Anhinga (Snake head) and your Australian Darter. Thank you for your visit to my blog. I’ll be following your website shortly. You have a lot to see there. 🙂
  
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Emma Sarah Tennant on January 9, 2015 at 2:15 am said:

What an enigmatic-looking creature. Great shots!

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- avian101 on January 9, 2015 at 9:29 am said:
  
  Thanks Emma! 🙂
  
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