Water Turkey
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
see darter.
More on Water Turkey
Darter - or anhinga common name for a very slender, black water bird very closely related to the cormorant.
The Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), sometimes called Snakebird, Darter, American Darter, or Water Turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of North America and South America.
OTHER NAMES: Water turkey, snake bird, darter.
DESCRIPTION: Anhingas belong to Order Pelecaniformes, as do a number of other primarily aquatic birds (pelicans, cormorants, boobies, and frigate birds).
Also known as the snake bird or water turkey, the anhinga is a year-round resident of Florida. It is also found from coastal sections of South Carolina westward to Texas and Mexico, and even south to Argentina.
Behavior: ...
Both the male and the female have long fan- shaped tail feathers and sometimes the anhinga is known as the water turkey. The anhinga has poorly developed oil glands and its feathers aren't as waterproof as other water birds are.
It is called "water turkey" in the southern United States for little clearly apparent reason; though the American Darter is quite unrelated to the wild turkey, they are both large, blackish birds with long tails that are sometimes hunted for food.
 See also: Turkey, Cormorant, Anhinga, Snake, Perch
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