Australasian Darter
Anhinga novaehollandiae
Large, slim waterbird with distinctive long straight bill. Swims snake-like with body submerged, and just its head and neck protruding from the water. In flight it can sometimes look like a large raptor, especially when soaring, but note the long neck and bill. Common around waterways, where it perches on trees and branches above the water, often holding its wings out to dry.
Identification
The Australasian darter is a slim bird measuring 86–94 cm (34–37 in) long with a snakelike slender neck. The male has black plumage with a white streak down the side of its head and neck, while the female has white underparts.
Taxonomy
John Gould described the Australasian darter as Plotus novaehollandiae in 1847. Closely related to American (Anhinga anhinga), African (Anhinga rufa), and Oriental (Anhinga melanogaster) darters, the Australasian darter has been classed as a subspecies of the African or African plus Oriental darters. All four have also been classed as a single species. Examination of the leg bones indicates the three Old World species are more closely related to each other with the American species more divergent. Genetic analysis showed it differed from A. rufa to a degree equivalent to that between other separate species, and shifted consensus to treating the Australasian darter as a separate species.<p>Fossils of the Australasian darter have been recovered from several Pleistocene strata in Australia.<p>As well as Australasian darter, common names given to the species include darter, diver, needle-beak shag, shag, and snake-bird. The Noongar people of southwestern Australia call it mimal. Gould also called it the New Holland darter or New Holland devil-bird.
- Scientific name
- Anhinga novaehollandiae
- Authority
- (Gould, 1847)
- Order
- Suliformes
- Family
- Anhingidae
- Genus
- Anhinga
Range and habitat
Typical habitat is freshwater or brackish wetlands more than 0.5 m deep with fallen trees or logs and vegetated banks; less commonly, darters are found in inland saltwater environments. The Australasian darter is found in the lowlands of New Guinea, New Britain, the Moluccas and the Lesser Sunda Islands. It is found across Australia, though not in the Great Sandy or Great Victoria Deserts or Nullarbor Plain,.. It is an uncommon vagrant to Tasmania.
- Breeding range
- AU : Timor (e Lesser Sundas), New Guinea, and Australia (except sc, Tasmania)
- Non-breeding range
- to Moluccas
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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