---
title: "Anhinga"
description: "Anhinga anhinga — Birds. The anhinga (; Anhinga anhinga), sometimes called darter, American darter, snakebird, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/anhinga
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Anhinga

> Anhinga anhinga — Birds. The anhinga (; Anhinga anhinga), sometimes called darter, American darter, snakebird, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas.

- Scientific name: *Anhinga anhinga*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 68827
- Wikidata: [Q469940](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q469940)
- iNaturalist taxon: [5063](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5063)

## Names

- en: Anhinga
- de: Amerikanischer Schlangenhalsvogel
- es: Aninga americana
- fr: Anhinga d'Amérique
- nl: Amerikaanse slangenhalsvogel
- pt: Biguatinga
- pl: Wężówka amerykańska

## Countries with the most observations

US (53710), MX (4185), CR (2820), BR (2462), AR (946), EC (566), PA (516), CO (323), PE (300), BO (279), TT (212), BZ (199)

## Summary

The anhinga (; Anhinga anhinga), sometimes called darter, American darter, snakebird, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from a'ñinga in the Brazilian Tupi language and means "devil bird" or "snake bird". The origin of the name is apparent when swimming: only the neck appears above water, so the bird looks like a snake ready to strike. They do not have external nares (nostrils) and breathe solely through their epiglottis, via small opercula at the corners of the beak.
The anhinga is placed in the darter family, Anhingidae, and is closely related to the Oriental…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhinga

## Photo

![Anhinga](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/anhinga/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jesse Rorabaugh · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37782269

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/anhinga?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).