The Anhinga or Anhinga anhinga is also termed as the water turkey, American Darter, Darter or the Snakebird. It is a water-bird found on the parts of the American region that are quite warm. These birds earned the name anhinga from the Brazilian language, Tupi, meaning snake or devil bird.

These bird species are generally found across the whole globe within more shallow waters. In one of its species, this American Anhinga, is usually subdivided within two subspecies, the A.a. anhinga and leucogaster, mostly based upon their regions. A.a. anhinga could be located around many areas on the Eastern areas of the Andes within the Southern America area as well as in such islands as Trinidad and Tobago. On the other hand, the A. a. leucogaster could be located along the southern area of United States, Grenada, Cuba and Mexico.

The A. anhinga is not a small bird species and usually measures about 88.9cm in terms of length and 1.14m for the Wingspan. On the other hand, the A. anhinga is a bit bigger more than the A. a. leucogaster while it sports a buffy tail. It weighs about 1.22kg, with the bill long, where the measurement depict twice the head length and it is pointed sharply with webbed feet that are hued yellow.

The larger parts of the masculine Anhinga’s frame are rather black-green and glossy, while the tail and wing base are glossily black blue. At the tip of its tail, it has some clear white feathers, while the neck and back of the head has some elongated feathers mostly described as being gray in color or mostly hued with a purple-white light constellation. On the upper part of the body, the wings are obviously dotted with a white color.

In terms of likeness, the appearance of the female Anhinga is very similar with that of the male, except for the male it has a rather pale gray or a lighter brown, as well as on the upper chest, neck and head. On the lower part of the chest and breast, there is color that is largely chestnut. When in comparison with the male, the Anhinga female wield an intense brown back.

The Anhinga is usually mistaken with the cormorant that has a double-crested characteristic, mostly because of their similarity in terms of behavior and size. Nonetheless, the two distinct species might easily be distinguished through their bills and tails. For the anhinga, the tail is quite long and wider than the one resembling the cormorants. The Anhinga’s bill is more pointed while the cormorant’s bill is hooked at the tip.

Conservation

The Anhinga is under strict protection within the United States under the Migratory of Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The holistic numbers of anhingas have not been ascertained nor estimated but many have considered them to be around the Least Concern range mostly as a result of the frequency in the way they occur with square miles set out across the global range.