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DARTER FACTS |
Description
The Darter is a large slender water bird with a long snake-like neck and sharp pointed bill. Male Darters are dark brownish black with chestnut brown under parts. The wings are glossy black on top, streaked and spotted white and silver. There is a white stripe from the bill to extending across each side of the face and down upper part of the neck. Females and immatures are grey-brown above and pale grey or white below. Immatures have less prominent neck stripe. The Darter often swims with only the snake-like neck showing above the water. It is similar in appearance to the cormorants but has much longer neck and more pointed bill.
Other Names
Shag, Snake Bird
Size
85 - 90cm
Habitat
wetlands and sheltered coastal waters, mainly in the Tropics and Subtropics. Prefers waters with perching places such as tree trunks or stumps where it rests and dries its wings. Common on inland waters as well as calm coastal waters.
Food
Stabs fish with its sharp bill and swallows them hole. Also eats other small water animals and insects.
Breeding
Nests in colonies with other tree-nesting water birds such as cormorants, spoonbills and ibis. Nest is made of sticks in the fork of a tree standing in water about 3 - 4m above the water. s surface. In hot weather, adults keep chicks cool by shaking water over them. Chicks can swim after about 4 weeks and start to fly at about 7 weeks.
Range
found across most of Queensland, New South and Victoria. Also in northern parts of NT and western parts of Western Australia. Not common from Adelaide to Perth along southern coastal areas, and not common in Tasmania.
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Pelecaniformes | | Family: | Anhingidae | | Genus: | Anhinga | | Species: | melanogaster | | Common Name: | Darter |
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