Darters | Anhingidae

Slangenhalsvogels | Aningas

A small family of four species found in tropical and subtropical fresh waters, represented here by the African Darter. Darters resemble slender cormorants with a long, fan-shaped tail and a very long, thin neck. The neck contains a specialised hinge between the eighth and ninth vertebrae. Worked by an arrangement of muscle and tendon, it lets the kinked neck spring forward like a trigger. With it the bird spears fish underwater on the straight, dagger-sharp bill. At the surface it shakes the fish free, tosses it and swallows it head-first. Darters often swim with the body submerged and only the sinuous head and neck showing, which earned them the name 'snakebird'. Their plumage is wettable, not waterproofed, and combined with dense bones this cuts buoyancy. The result is slow, stealthy stalking underwater. The cost is long sessions perched with wings spread to dry and to absorb the sun's warmth. In flight they alternate flapping with glides, and they readily soar high on thermals like a small raptor. Darters breed colonially in trees over water, often with cormorants and herons. Males advertise with wing-waving and offer nest material to prospective mates. Clicks and harsh croaks are heard at the nest.