Birds Codexery

Darter

Tropical waterbirds that impale fish with their sharp bills.

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They are also called snakebirds because their long thin neck looks snake-like when they swim with the body submerged.[1] The family Anhingidae, which includes only the genus Anhinga, is composed of waterbirds that are mainly found in tropical regions.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassAves
  4. OrderSuliformes
  5. FamilyAnhingidae
  6. GenusAnhinga

Named by Lacépède, 1799

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Darter (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Type species
Pelecanus anhinga

Facts from the source article.

Biology and range

They feed mainly on mid-sized fish, which they impale with their pointed beak after a foot-propelled dive.[2][3] After catching prey, they toss it into the air and swallow it head-first.[4] Breeding is seasonal at the northern range edge, peaking in March/April, but elsewhere can occur all year.[5] Adult darters typically have a length ranging from 80 to 100 cm and a body mass between 1050 and 1350 g.[6]

Females are somewhat larger and have paler plumage than males, who possess black and dark-brown feathers along with a short, erectile crest on the nape.[6] Freshwater environments such as lakes, rivers, marshes, and swamps are the typical habitats for darters, with brackish estuaries and mangroves being used less frequently.[7] While most darter populations do not move seasonally, those living in the coldest parts of their distribution area may undertake migrations.[7] Because their feathers become waterlogged during dives, darters will perch in the sun with their wings extended to dry them.[4]

What the specialist sources record

GBIF Backbone Taxonomy lists the genus Anhinga as accepted in the order Suliformes, family Anhingidae.[8] GBIF holds 2,406,207 occurrence records for this taxon as of 19 October 2026.[8] The name Anhinga comes from the Tupi ajíŋa, referring to a malevolent demonic forest spirit, often translated as "devil bird" or "snake bird".[9] In 1799, the French zoologist Bernard Germain de Lacépède established the genus Anhinga, designating the American darter as the type species for this group.[9]

The earliest recorded English usage of the word "anhinga" in 1818 was applied to a darter species from the Old World.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Darter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Answers.com [2009], BLI (2009), Myers et al. [2009] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Darter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: E.g. Centrarchidae (sunfishes), Cichlidae (cichlids), Cyprinidae (carps, minnows and relatives), Cyprinodontidae (pupfishes), Mugilidae (mullets), Plotosidae (e; E.g., Anura (frogs and toads), Caudata (newts and salamanders), snakes, turtles and even baby crocodilians: Myers et al. [2009]; E.g., Crustacea (crabs, crayfish and shrimps), insects, leeches and molluscs: Myers et al. [2009] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Darter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ryan, PG, "Diving in shallow water: the foraging ecology of darters (Aves: Anhingidae)", J. Avian Biol., 2007, p. 507–514 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Darter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Myers et al. [2009]; Ryan, Peter G., "Moult of Flight Feathers in Darters (Anhingidae)", Ardea, 2014, p. 177–180 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Darter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Answers.com [2009], Myers et al. [2009] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Darter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brodkorb & Mourer-Chauviré (1982), Myers et al. [2009] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Darter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Answers.com [2009], BLI (2009), Myers et al. [2009]; BirdLife International, "Anhinga melanogaster", 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Anhinga (taxon key 2482079). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Darter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brisson, "Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés", Jean-Baptiste Bauche, 1760; "Check-list of Birds of the World", Museum of Comparative Zoology, 1979, p. 170 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Darter" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jobling (1991): p.48, MW [2009] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Darter (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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