anhinga

Members of the Anhinga genus live in warm, shallow waters and swamplands worldwide. 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. A fossil species, Anhinga walterbolesi, has been described from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene of Australia.

Only birds living in the extreme north or south of their respective ranges will 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". Although not part of their traditional range, American anhingas have been found as far north as the states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and New York.{{Citation| title = The 'Devil Bird' Lands in New York, With More Likely to Come | newspaper = The New York Times| date = 4 May 2023}}

Kettles of anhingas often migrate with other species of birds, and have been described as resembling "black paper gliders".

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. The A. a. anhinga subspecies is larger than A. a. leucogaster and has broader buffy tail tips. 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}}. The bill is relatively long (about twice the length of the head), sharply pointed, and yellow, and the webbed feet are yellow as well.

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

The female anhinga is similar to the male except for its pale gray-buff or light brown head, neck, and upper chest. The lower chest or breast is a chestnut color, and the back is browner than the male's.

File:Anhinga anhinga 2zz.jpg

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.

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.

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.{{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}}

Anhingas swim underwater by kicking their 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.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 DOI: [https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/anhing/introduction 10.2173/bna.522] Unlike ducks, ospreys and pelicans, 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.{{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}}{{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}}

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.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 Condor84, no. 1 (1982): 91-96. JSTOR [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1367827 1367827] Anhingas also lose body heat relatively fast, and their posture helps them absorb solar radiation from the sun to counteract this. Because an anhinga in the drying position resembles a male turkey, it has been colloquially referred to as the 'water turkey' or 'swamp turkey'.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

{{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, amphibians,{{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)}} aquatic invertebrates and insects.{{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}} In Alabama, the anhinga's diet consists of fishes (such as mullet, sunfish, black bass, catfish, suckers, and chain pickerel), crayfish, crabs, shrimp, aquatic insects, tadpoles, water snakes and small terrapins.{{Cite book|title=Alabama Birds|last=Imhof|first=Thomas, A|publisher=University of Alabama Press|year=1962|isbn=978-0-8173-1701-0}} In Florida, sunfishes and bass, killifishes, and live-bearing fishes are primarily eaten by the anhingas.{{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 }} Other fish eaten include pupfish and percids.

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. If the fish is too large to forage, the anhinga stabs it repeatedly and then lets it go.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] Anhingas bring their capture to the surface of the water, toss it backward and engulf it head-first.

The US protects the anhinga under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. 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.

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.

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{{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}}

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}}

• {{BirdLife|22696702|Anhinga anhinga}}
• {{InternetBirdCollection|anhinga-anhinga-anhinga|Anhinga}}
• {{VIREO|Anhinga}}
• {{Xeno-canto species|Anhinga|anhinga|Anhinga}}

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{{Suliformes Genera|S.|state=collapsed}}

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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