anhinga

English - English

Definition of anhinga in English English dictionary: A fish-eating bird, Anhinga anhinga, from North America having a thin, pointed bill and long, thin neck; fish-eating bird of warm inland waters having a long flexible neck and slender sharp-pointed bill; An aquatic bird of the southern United States (Platus anhinga); the darter, or snakebird; {i} large swimming and diving fish-eating bird of tropical and subtropical America; or snakebird Any fish-eating bird of the family Anhingidae (order Pelecaniformes), sometimes considered a single species (Anhinga anhinga) with geographical variants. Anhingas are about 35 in. (90 cm) long, slender, and long-necked. They are mostly black, with silvery wing markings. Males, glossed with green, develop pale head plumes and a dark "mane" in breeding season. Anhingas live in small colonies along lakes and rivers in tropical to warm temperate regions except in Europe. They swim nearly submerged; the head and neck show above water, darting snakelike from side to side
genus anhinga: type genus of the Anhingidae