Photo by Neil
Alternative name: Australian Darter
- Anhinga novaehollandiae
Identification
An 85–97 cm (33½-38¼ in) tall cormorant-like species
- Very long neck.
Male
- Mainly glossy black with white streaking
Females and immature birds are browner.
Distribution
Australia to Lesser Sundas, Moluccas and New Guinea
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
It was formerly lumped with African Darter and Oriental Darter.
Habitat
Clean fresh water in lakes and large slow-flowing rivers.
Behaviour
Often swims with only the neck above water.
Diet
They spear their prey (mainly fish but also other aquatic animals e.g. snakes, frogs, crustaceans etc.) underwater as they swim along.
Breeding
They build a stick platform nest in a tree; the clutch consists of 3-6 eggs. They often nest with herons, egrets and cormorants.
Colonial breeders, they can form large heronries with cormorants, egrets and bitterns etc.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Birdsinbackyards
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2017)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Australasian Darter. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Australasian_Darter
External Links
