Anhinga

Recognition
A long necked bird of about 3’ in length with white streaks on the wings. The male is mostly black and the female is mostly a pale brown.

Where seen
Singles and sometimes pairs are seen feeding on any of the ponds found at OBV.

Jimmy’s notes
When they surface, often only the neck and head can be seen, hence they are sometimes called the Snake bird. After fishing and getting wet, they often spread their wings in order to dry themselves and why? Because  their wings do not contain any oils and therefore aren’t waterproof!

Sometimes they soar up very high in circles and hence they can be confused with birds of prey.

The word "anhinga" comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird.