Editing Anhinga

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{For|the bird genus ''Anhinga''|Darter}}
{{Speciesbox
| italic_title = no
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Pleistocene|present}}
| image = Anhinga anhinga -Costa Rica-8.jpg
| image_caption = Male in Costa Rica
| image2 = Female anhinga in Florida.jpg
| image2_caption = Female in Florida
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Anhinga anhinga'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T22696702A93581588 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22696702A93581588.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref>
| status2 = G5
| status2_system = TNC
| status2_ref = <ref>{{cite web|title=Anhinga anhinga|url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100210/Anhinga_anhinga|website=[[NatureServe]] Explorer|access-date=17 April 2024}}</ref>
| genus = Anhinga
| species = anhinga
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1766)
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = ''A. a. anhinga''<br />
''A. a. leucogaster''
| range_map = Anhinga Range.png
| range_map_caption = Range of ''A. anhinga'' {{leftlegend|#C65651|Breeding range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#AE605A|Resident range|outline=gray}}
| synonyms = ''Plotus anhinga'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1766}}
}}
The '''anhinga''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|n|ˈ|h|ɪ|ŋ|g|ə}}; '''''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 ''a'ñinga'' in the Brazilian [[Tupi language]] and means "devil bird" or "snake bird".<ref>Ferreira, A. B. H. (1986). ''Novo Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa''. Second edition. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira. p. 123.</ref> The origin of the name is apparent when swimming: only the neck appears above water, so 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 darter|Indian]] (''Anhinga melanogaster''), [[African darter|African]] (''Anhinga rufa''), and [[Australian darter|Australian]] (''Anhinga novaehollandiae'') [[darter]]s. Like other darters, the anhinga hunts by spearing fish and other small prey using its sharp, slender beak.

==Distribution and migration==
Members of the ''[[Darter|Anhinga]]'' genus live in warm, shallow waters and swamplands worldwide.<ref name=Nellis/> The American anhinga has been subdivided into two subspecies, ''A. a. anhinga'' and ''A. a. leucogaster'', based on their respective location. ''A. a. anhinga'' can be found mainly east of the [[Andes]] in [[South America]], east to the islands of [[Trinidad and Tobago]]. ''A. a. leucogaster'' can be found in the [[southern United States]], [[Mexico]], [[Cuba]], and the [[Caribbean]] island of  [[Grenada]].<ref name=Blake/> A fossil species, ''[[Anhinga walterbolesi]],'' has been described from the [[Chattian|Late Oligocene]] to [[Early Miocene]] of [[Australia]].

Only birds living in the extreme north or south of their respective ranges will [[Bird migration|migrate]] based on temperature and available sunlight; anhingas will travel closer towards the [[equator]] during winter, but this range is "determined by the amount of sunshine to warm the chilled birds".<ref name=Nellis/> Although not part of their traditional range, American anhingas have been found as far north as the states of [[Pennsylvania]],<ref name=McWilliams/> [[Wisconsin]],<ref name=Robbins/> and [[New York (state)|New York.]]<ref>{{Citation| title = The 'Devil Bird' Lands in New York, With More Likely to Come | newspaper = [[The New York Times]]| date = 4 May 2023}}</ref>

[[Kettle (birds)|Kettles]] of anhingas often migrate with other species of birds, and have been described as resembling "black paper gliders".<ref name=Eubanks/>

==Description==
The anhinga is a large bird, measuring approximately {{convert|89|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length (with a range of {{convert|75|-|95|cm|in|abbr=on}}), with a {{convert|1.14|m|ft|abbr=on}} wingspan.<ref name=Sibley/><ref name=Cornell/> The ''A. a. anhinga'' subspecies is larger than ''A. a. leucogaster'' and has broader buffy tail tips.<ref name=Blake/> They weigh on average around {{convert|1.22|kg|lbs|abbr=on}}, with a range of {{convert|1.04|-|1.35|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name= Cornell/><ref name=Maehr/><ref name=Hennemann1985/> The bill is relatively long (about twice the length of the head), sharply pointed, and yellow, and the webbed feet are yellow as well.<ref name=Robbins/><ref name=Audubon/><ref name=Sibley/><ref name=Maehr/>

The male is glossy black-green, including its wings and the base of its wings, while its tail is glossy black-blue.<ref name=Audubon/> The tip of the tail is white.<ref name=Wood/> The back of the head and the neck have elongated feathers that have been described as gray<ref name=Chapman/> or light purple-white.<ref name=Audubon/> The upper back of the body and wings are spotted or streaked with white.<ref name=Chapman/>

The female anhinga is similar to the male except for its pale gray-buff<ref name=Burton/> or light brown<ref name=Gregware/> head, neck, and upper chest. The lower chest or breast is a chestnut color, and the back is browner than the male's.<ref name=Fjeldsa/>
[[File:Anhinga anhinga 2zz.jpg|left|thumb|Skeleton, showing the unusual eighth cervical vertebra.]]
The hatchling starts bald but gains tan down within a few days of hatching. Within two weeks, the tan down is replaced by white down. Three weeks after hatching, the first juvenile feathers appear. Juveniles are mostly brown until they first breed, usually after the second or third winter.<ref name=Nellis/>

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 the cormorant's. The bill of the anhinga is pointed, while the bill of the cormorant has a hook-tip.<ref name=Peterson/>

Like other species in the genus, anhingas have a noticeable "kink" midway up their necks. This is due to the peculiar morphology of the eighth cervical vertebra.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Garrod |first=A. H. |date=1876 |title=1. Notes on the Anatomy of Plotus anhinga. |url=https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1876.tb02572.x |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |language=en |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=335–345 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1876.tb02572.x |issn=1469-7998}}</ref>

==Behavior==
Anhingas swim underwater by kicking their [[Webbed foot|webbed feet]] to pursue their prey, fish or amphibians, which they spear by rapidly outstretching their bent neck. They come up to the surface to consume and swallow prey.<ref>Frederick, P. C. and D. Siegel-Causey (2000). Anhinga (''Anhinga anhinga''), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.      Pg 4-5 [[Digital object identifier|DOI]]: [https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/anhing/introduction 10.2173/bna.522]</ref> Unlike [[duck]]s, [[osprey]]s and [[pelican]]s, which coat their feathers with oils from the [[uropygial gland]], the anhinga does not have this ability; anhingas lack waterproof feathers on their bodies, causing them to be saturated upon immersion into water, while the flight feathers are slightly less wettable. Thus, their habit of basking in the sun with outstretched wings is crucial. Their dense bones, wetted plumage, and neutral [[buoyancy]] in water allow them to fully submerge and hunt for underwater prey.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/anhing/introduction |title=Anhinga - Introduction |work=Birds of North America Online |via= website: ''birdsna.org'' |language=en |access-date= 2018-12-08 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180605100521/https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/anhing/introduction|archive-date=2018-06-05 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rijke |first1=Arie M. |last2=Jesser |first2=William A. |last3=Mahoney |first3=Sheila A. |date=1989 |title=Plumage wettability of the African darter Anhinga melanogaster compared with the double-crested cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00306525.1989.9633739 |journal=Ostrich |language=en |volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=128–132 |doi=10.1080/00306525.1989.9633739 |bibcode=1989Ostri..60..128R |issn=0030-6525|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Anhingas cannot fly for any extended distance with soaked feathers; if they attempt to fly while wet, notable difficulty is experienced, the birds flapping vigorously while "running" on the water's surface for a short distance (often escaping a perceived threat).  Like [[cormorants]], anhingas perch and rest on fallen trees, logs or rocks near the water's edge with wings spread and feathers fanned-open in a semicircular shape, facing away from the sun, in order to dry themselves and absorb the sun's heat.<ref name=":1">Hennemann, Willard W. "[https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v084n01/p0091-p0096.pdf Energetics and Spread-Winged Behavior of Anhingas in Florida]" ''The Condor''84, no. 1 (1982): 91-96. [[JSTOR]] [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1367827 1367827]</ref>  Anhingas also lose body heat relatively fast, and their posture helps them absorb solar radiation from the sun to counteract this.<ref name=":1" /> Because an anhinga in the drying position resembles a male [[Turkey (bird)|turkey]], it has been colloquially referred to as the 'water turkey' or 'swamp turkey'.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

== Diet ==
{{Multiple image
| image1            = Anhinga imported from iNaturalist photo 177629323 on 3 December 2024.png
| image2            = Anhinga imported from iNaturalist photo 177629345 on 3 December 2024.png
| footer            = Eating a [[cichlid]]. In Florida.
| total_width       = 300
}}
Anhingas feed on moderately sized wetland fishes,<ref name="Cornell" /> amphibians,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/images/Anhinga%20anhinga%20-%20Anhinga%20or%20Snake-bird.pdf |title=The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago - Anhinga anhinga (Anhinga or Snake-bird)}}</ref> aquatic invertebrates and insects.<ref name="animaldiversity.org">{{cite web|last=Kearns |first=Laura |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Anhinga_anhinga/ |title=ADW: Anhinga anhinga: INFORMATION |publisher=Animaldiversity.org |date= |access-date=2022-08-08}}</ref> In [[Alabama]], the anhinga's diet consists of fishes (such as [[mullet (fish)|mullet]], [[Centrarchidae|sunfish]], [[black bass]], [[catfish]], [[Catostomidae|suckers]], and [[chain pickerel]]), [[crayfish]], [[crab]]s, [[shrimp]], [[aquatic insects]], [[tadpole]]s, [[Nerodia|water snakes]] and small [[terrapins]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Alabama Birds|last=Imhof|first=Thomas, A|publisher=University of Alabama Press|year=1962|isbn=978-0-8173-1701-0}}</ref> In Florida, [[Centrarchidae|sunfishes and bass]], [[Cyprinodontiformes|killifishes]], and [[Poeciliidae|live-bearing fishes]] are primarily eaten by the anhingas.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|url= https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/om/om006.pdf#page=127 |title=Adaptations for locomotion and feeding in the Anhinga and the Double-crested cormorant|last=Owre|first=Oscar, T|journal=Ornithological Monographs |publisher=American Ornithologists Union|year=1967 |issue=6 |doi= 10.2307/40166666 |isbn=978-0-9436-1006-1|pages=126–127|jstor=40166666 }}</ref> Other fish eaten include [[pupfish]] and [[Percidae|percids]].<ref name="animaldiversity.org"/>

Anhingas stalk fish underwater, mainly where there is some vegetation. Once they locate their prey, they partly open their bill and stab the fish swiftly. For larger fish, they use both their jaws; for small fish, they may use only the lower jaw.<ref name="Cornell" /> If the fish is too large to forage, the anhinga stabs it repeatedly and then lets it go.<ref>Wellenstein, Charlie (1986). "[https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/FFN_14-3p74-75.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,-190,266 Prey Handling by Anhingas]". ''Florida Field Naturalist.'' '''14:''' 74-75- via [https://sora.unm.edu/node/134737 SORA]</ref> Anhingas bring their capture to the surface of the water, toss it backward and engulf it head-first.<ref name=":2" />

==Conservation status==
The US protects the anhinga under the [[Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918]].<ref name=FWS/> The number of individual anhingas has not been estimated, but they are considered to be of least concern because of the frequency of their occurrence in their {{convert|15000000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} global range.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" />

<gallery>
File:Anhingadrying.jpg|Male drying its feathers and warming its body, Florida, US
File:Anhinga in tree.jpg|Showing snake-like neck and pointed beak
File:Anhinga in flight.jpg|In flight, South Carolina, US
File:Anhinga anhinga -Uarini, Amazonas, Brasil -juvenile-8.jpg|Juvenile in Uarini, Amazonas, Brazil
File:Anhinga anhinga (juveniles).jpg|Juveniles with white plumage
File:Anhinga anhinga -near Lake Apopka, Florida, USA -female-8.jpg|Female in Florida, US
File:Anhinga Leesburg 2024.jpg|Anhinga on Harris Lake in Leesburg, Florida.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|2|refs=
<ref name=Audubon>{{cite book |title=The Birds of America |url=https://archive.org/details/birdsamerica01audgoog |last=Audubon |first= John James |publisher=J.B. Chevalier |year=1843 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/birdsamerica01audgoog/page/n725 443]–457}}</ref>

<ref name=Blake>{{cite book |title=Birds of Mexico: a guide for field identification |url=https://archive.org/details/birdsofmexicogui00blak |url-access=registration |last=Blake |first=Emmet Reid |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1953 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/birdsofmexicogui00blak/page/151 151–152] |isbn=0-226-05641-4}}</ref>

<ref name=Burton>{{cite book |title=International Wildlife Encyclopedia |last1=Burton |first1=Maurice |last2=Burton |first2=Robert |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |year=2002 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/internationalwil05burt0/page/646 646] |isbn=0-7614-7271-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/internationalwil05burt0 }}</ref>

<ref name=Chapman>{{cite book |title=Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America |last=Chapman |first=Frank M. |year=1904 |publisher=Harvard University |page=93 |url=https://archive.org/download/handbookofbirdso04chap/handbookofbirdso04chap.pdf |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.34046 }}</ref>

<ref name=Cornell>{{Cite AllAboutBirds|Anhinga}}</ref>

<ref name=Eubanks>{{cite book |title=[[Birdlife of Houston, Galveston, and the Upper Texas Coast]] |first1=Ted L. |last1=Eubanks |first2=Robert A. |last2=Behrstock |first3=Ron J. |last3=Weeks |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2006 |page=70 |isbn=978-1-58544-510-3}}</ref>

<ref name=Fjeldsa>{{cite book |title=Birds of the High Andes |first1=Jon |last1=Fjeldså |first2=Niels |last2=Krabbe |first3=Povl |last3=Jørgensen |first4=Jens Ole |last4=Byskov |publisher=Apollo Books |year=1990 |page=74 |isbn=87-88757-16-1}}</ref>

<ref name=FWS>{{cite web |author=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |year=1995 |title=Birds Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act |url=http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/intrnltr/mbta/mbtandx.html |access-date=15 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508174755/http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/intrnltr/mbta/mbtandx.html |archive-date=8 May 2008}}</ref>

<ref name=Gregware>{{cite book |title=Guide to the Lake Okeechobee Area |last1=Gregware |first1=Bill |last2=Gregware |first2=Carol |publisher=Pineapple Press Inc. |year=1997 |page=54 |isbn=1-56164-129-4}}</ref>

<ref name=Hennemann1985>{{cite journal |title=Energetics, Behavior and the Zoogeography of Anhingas and Double-Crested Cormorants |first=Willard W. |last=Hennemann, III |journal=Ornis Scandinavica |volume=16 |number=4 |date=December 1985 |pages=319–323 |publisher=Wiley |doi=10.2307/3676697 |jstor=3676697}}</ref>

<ref name=Maehr>{{cite book |title=Florida's Birds: A Field Guide and Reference |first1=David S. |last1=Maehr |first2=H.W. |last2=Kale |first3=Herbert W. |last3=Kale, II |publisher=Pineapple Press Inc. |year=2005 |pages=33, 38 |isbn=1-56164-335-1}}</ref>

<ref name=McWilliams>{{cite book |title=Birds of Pennsylvania |first1=Gerald M. |last1=McWilliams |first2=Daniel W. |last2=Brauning |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1999 |page=43 |isbn=978-0-8014-3643-7}}</ref>

<ref name=Nellis>{{cite book |title=Common Coastal Birds of Florida and the Caribbean |last=Nellis |first=David W. |publisher=Pineapple Press, Inc. |year=2001 |page=110 |isbn=978-1-56164-191-8}}</ref>

<ref name=Peterson>{{cite book |title=A Field Guide to the Birds of Texas |last=Peterson |first=Roger Tory |author-link=Roger Tory Peterson |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |year=1998 |page=130 |isbn=0-395-92138-4}}</ref>

<ref name=Robbins>{{cite book |title=Wisconsin Birdlife: Population and Distribution Past and Present |last=Robbins |first=Samuel D. |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1991 |pages=127–128 |isbn=978-0-299-10260-9}}</ref>

<ref name=Sibley>{{cite book |title=The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America |last=Sibley |first= David Allen |author-link=David Allen Sibley |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |year=2003 |page=45 |isbn=0-679-45120-X}}</ref>

<ref name=Wood>{{cite book |title=Birds of North America |first1=Tom |last1=Wood |first2=Sheri L. |last2=Williamson |first3=Jeffrey |last3=Glassberg |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. |page=50 |isbn=1-4027-2821-2 |year=2005}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{BirdLife|22696702|Anhinga anhinga}}
* {{InternetBirdCollection|anhinga-anhinga-anhinga|Anhinga}}
* {{VIREO|Anhinga}}
* {{Xeno-canto species|Anhinga|anhinga|Anhinga}}

{{Suliformes}}
{{Suliformes Genera|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q469940}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Anhingidae]]
[[Category:Birds of the Americas]]
[[Category:Native birds of the Southeastern United States]]
[[Category:Mangrove fauna]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1766]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Extant Pleistocene first appearances]]