The African Darter sometimes called the Snakebird, is a water bird of sub-Sahara

Sahara

The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...

n Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

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Taxonomy

The African Darter is a member of the darter family, Anhingidae, and is closely related to American

Anhinga

The Anhinga , sometimes called Snakebird, Darter, American Darter, or Water Turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word "anhinga" comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird.It is a cormorant-like bird with an average body length of , a...

 (Anhinga anhinga), Oriental

Oriental Darter

The Oriental Darter or Indian Darter , sometimes called Snakebird, is a water bird of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.-Taxonomy:...

 (Anhinga melanogaster), and Australian

Australian Darter

The Australasian Darter or Australian Darter is a species of bird in the darter family, Anhingidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea...

 (Anhinga novaehollandiae) Darters.

Description

The male is mainly glossy black with white streaking, but females and immature birds are browner. The African Darter differs in appearance from the American Darter most recognisably by its thin white lateral neck stripe against a rufous background colour. The pointed bill should prevent confusion with cormorants.

It is an 80 cm long cormorant-like fish-eating species with a very long neck, like other anhingas.

Distribution

The African Darter is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of water occur.

There is an isolated tiny population of the African Darter at the Lower Mesopotamian wetlands in Iraq. The bird used to breed there in breeding colonies with Pygmy Cormorant and Sacred Ibis and other waterfowl.

Behaviour

This species builds a stick nest in a tree and lays 3-6 eggs. It often nests with heron

Heron

The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....

s, egret

Egret

An egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets...

s and cormorant

Cormorant

The bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...

s.

It often swims with only the neck above water, hence the common name snakebird. This too is a habit shared with the other anhingas.

Unlike many other waterbirds the feathers of the African Darter do not contain any oil and are therefore not waterproof. Because of this, the bird is less positively buoyant and its diving capabilities are enhanced. After diving for fish, the feathers can become waterlogged. In order to be able to fly and maintain heat insulation it needs to dry its feathers. Thus the African Darter is often seen sitting along the waterside spreading its wings and drying its feathers in the wind and the sun along with cormorants which may share its habitat.