Anhinga: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the anhinga lives – recorded in 23 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Anhinga anhinga
Group	Seabirds, divers & grebes
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	23 countries
Continents	North America, South America
Class	Bird
Order	Suliformes
Family	Anhingidae

Where does the anhinga live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the anhinga in 23 countries and territories across North America and South America. Wikidata gives its range as: Brazil, South America, Pará.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the anhinga endangered?

The anhinga’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the anhinga?

The anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) is a bird in the order Suliformes and the family Anhingidae, genus Anhinga. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the anhinga

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 (Anhinga melanogaster), African (Anhinga rufa), and Australasian (Anhinga novaehollandiae) darters. Like other darters, the anhinga hunts by spearing fish and other small prey using its sharp, slender beak.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Anhinga (revision 1376211757), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q469940 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).