One special native bird of the Everglades National Park is the anhinga
- This tropical water bird lives in the freshwater wetlands of the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve.
- The anhinga is a wading bird that is found widely in the Everglades National Park. It's a darter that has a thin, long neck with a pointed bill. While they thrive in freshwater marshlands, they have also been known to survive in saltwater and brackish habitats as well.
- Male anhingas are an inky black color with clusters of white or silver feathers on their wings. Females can be identified by their buff-tan neck. During mating season, a bright blue colored patch of skin has been known to surround the male's blood-red eyes.
- The anhinga is known as the water turkey or the snake-bird and is found pretty much all year round in parts of Florida. They can also be found south towards Argentina and from coastal sections of South Carolina, westwards to Texas and Mexico.
- It feeds mostly on small fish, amphibians, young alligators, crayfish, snakes, and shrimp that they forage for in the marshy wetlands of the Everglades National Park.
- They're known to fish underwater. They spear their prey to catch them, they retract their necks to form an 'S' shape and dart it back to pierce their prey in the water. Once they spear their prey, the come ashore slap the fish around their bills to detach it, toss it into the air and swallow it down head first.
- You are most likely to see an anhinga while on an air boat tour or taking a walk along the Tamiami trail. They can be found sunning themselves on the Big Cypress boardwalk too, with their wings stretched wide open.
- Unlike other aquatic birds that have natural oil on their feathers, the anhingas have lower oil levels so that their buoyancy levels are reduced. The anhingas sink more easily as compared to other birds as the water floods into small spaces in their feathers.
- Anhingas have been known to control the massive non-native catfish population in Big Cypress National Preserve by eating them.
- They're called snake-birds die to their style of swimming. When they swim, their body sinks beneath the surface whereas only their neck and head stay above the water. At a quick glance, they look like water snakes. They mate during the month of February. They lay their eggs during the spring and the early summer months. They build their nests in trees that line the shoreline, which are about 15-20 feet tall.
Orignal From: Ten Interesting Facts about the Anhinga of the Everglades National Park
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