African Darter (Anhinga rufa)
About the African Darter
The African darter (Anhinga rufa), sometimes called the snakebird, is a water bird of Sub-Saharan Africa and Iraq. The African darter is a member of the darter family, Anhingidae, and is closely related to American (A. anhinga), Oriental (A. melanogaster), and Australasian (A. novaehollandiae) darters. The African darter is 80 cm (31 in) long. Like other anhingas, it has a very long neck. The male is mainly glossy black with white streaking; 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 prevents confusion with cormorants.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 10 recordings for this species: 1 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Other birds you can hear here
- African CuckooCuculus gularisrecording
- African Pied WagtailMotacilla aguimprecording
- African Reed WarblerAcrocephalus baeticatusrecording
- Black CrakeZapornia flavirostrarecording
- Black-crowned Night HeronNycticorax nycticoraxrecording
- Black-crowned TchagraTchagra senegalusrecording
These are the birds recorded alongside it, not close relatives — the site holds no other member of its genus or family yet.