Anhinga
(Anhinga anhinga)
Photographed in the wild, Naples, Florida Apr 2007
A bird of southern swamps, the
Anhinga is known as the Water-Turkey for its swimming habits and broad tail,
and also as the Snake-Bird for its habit of swimming with just its long head
and neck sticking out of the water.
Its long-serrated dagger-shaped bill
is ideally suited for catching fish, which it stabs and then flips into the air
and gulps down headfirst. Cormorants and Anhinga’s lack of oil glands with
which to groom so they must perch in the sun with their wings half open to dry.
The Anhinga is frequently seen
soaring high in the sky overhead. It is a graceful flier and can travel long
distances without flapping its wings, much in the manner of a Turkey Vulture.
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