American Anhinga

• Field marks:  Males are mostly black with some glossy green across their backs. Females are colored similarly, but have light brown (buffy) head and neck. They both have a strip of white feathers on the back of their wings. Beaks are long, narrow and pointed, their necks are long, slender and give the impression of being snake-like.

• Size:  The average length of anhingas is about 34 inches, with a wingspan of about 45 inches.

• General habitat:  Swamps, marshes, wooded rivers and ponds

• Geographic range:  All throughout Florida year-round, as well as southern parts of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Breeding extends slightly north in those states. Also found on the Gulf side of Texas and Mexico.

• Ecosystem(s) where observed: Freshwater marsh, highway edges

• Diet:  Fish, aquatic invertebrates

• Field Observations: I found one sunning itself, wings spread wide to dry off whatever water it had taken on a dive. I came within three feet of the bird and still she stayed, looking occasionally at me, or around at other things, even closing her eyes at certain times. She seemed unconcerned of my presense, perhaps fully aware of the safety withing the Anhinga trail area. She stood still while I walked around to her front side, there I could see her webbed feet. After a few minutes she slowly turned around so that her back was to me again, before finally flying off. I later found one in the process of hunting. At first he swam under water, head down, tail fanned, presumably paddling with his feet, as his wings were not moving in a swimming motion. He came up twice to dive back beneath the water; only the lighter feathers of his back and tail were clearly visible through the murky colored water. The third time coming up he hopped out of the water onto a tree branch, where he proceeded to spread his wings to dry like the previous one had done. There were several nesting anhingas along this trail, and I was able to see some of the young inside the nests, at least distantly. There were two babies in a nest that was situated in a tree in the middle of one pond, another two across from them and closer to the boardwalk, and another pair on the other side of the boardwalk. All the babies were white colored, with black wingtips. While I was watching, A parent from one nest fed one of the youngsters, letting it reach well inside her throat to get whatever fish was inside.

• References:
  • Alden, Peter; et al. National Audubon Society: Field Guide to Florida. Alfred A. Knopf: New York. 1998.
  • Dickenson, Mary B., editor.. Field Guide to the Birds of North America. National Geographic Society: Washington D.C. 2002.

• Juvenile Anhinga
• Close-up of Anhinga back
• Roosting with cormorants

Links to Video

• Anhinga feeding baby.