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African Darter

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                 iAfrican Darter

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Pelecaniformes
   Family:  Anhingidae
   Genus:   Anhinga
   Species: A. rufa

                                Binomial name

   Anhinga rufa
   ( Daudin, 1802)

   The African Darter (Anhinga rufa ), sometimes called the Snakebird, is
   a water bird of tropical sub-Saharan Africa.

   This species builds a stick nest in a tree and lays 3-6 eggs. It often
   nests with herons, egrets and cormorants.

   It is a cormorant-like fish-eating species with a very long neck which
   occurs in both saline and fresh water, especially near mangroves. It
   often swims with only the neck above water.

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

   The African Darter is a member of the darter family, Anhingidae, and is
   closely related to American (Anhinga anhinga), Oriental (Anhinga
   melanogaster), and Australian (Anhinga novaehollandiae) Darters.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Darter"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
