CreatureData

Anhinga

Anhinga anhinga (Linnaeus, 1766)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) is a species in the family Anhingidae, order Suliformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.23 kg to 1.25 kg and live up to 14.2 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)
Photo: Tim from Ithaca · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the anhinga

Weight
1.24 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
1.2 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
14.2 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
16.4 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
28 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
3.9 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Lifestyle
Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the anhinga?

ANHINGA · WINGSPAN 1.2 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 1.2 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the anhinga is about 71% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the anhinga live?

Not recorded

What is the anhinga?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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.

From the Wikipedia article “Anhinga” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anhinga&oldid=1376211757), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the anhinga endangered?

The anhinga is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the anhinga classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderSuliformes
  5. familyAnhingidae
  6. genusAnhinga
  7. SpeciesAnhinga anhinga (Linnaeus, 1766)

Synonyms Plotus anhinga

Other names and names in other languages (62)
  • American anhingaEnglish
  • American darterEnglish
  • Black-bellied darterEnglish
  • SnakebirdEnglish
  • Water TurkeyEnglish
  • زقة أميركيةArabic
  • قذاف أميركيArabic
  • Adi ilanboyunAzerbaijani
  • Американска змиешийкаBulgarian
  • Evn-naer AmerikaBreton
  • anhinga americàCatalan
  • anhinga americkáCzech
  • gwanwr AmericaWelsh
  • Amerikansk SlangehalsfuglDanish
  • Sydamerikansk SlangehalsfuglDanish
  • Amerika-SchlangenhalsvogelGerman
  • Amerikanischer SchlangenhalsvogelGerman
  • amerika anhingoEsperanto
  • Amerika sagobirdoEsperanto
  • AningaSpanish
  • Anhinga americanaSpanish
  • Aninga (Pato Aguja)Spanish
  • Corúa RealSpanish
  • Cotúa AgujitaSpanish
  • MarbellaSpanish
  • Pato AgujaSpanish
  • ameerika madukaelEstonian
  • مارگردن آمریکاییPersian
  • amerikankäärmekaulaFinnish
  • Anhinga d'AmériqueFrench
  • Anhinga d’AmériqueFrench
  • Mbigua mbóiGuarani
  • נחשון אמריקאיHebrew
  • נחשון אמריקניHebrew
  • amerikai kígyónyakúmadárHungarian
  • Aninga comuneItalian
  • Aninga americanaItalian
  • Uccello serpenteItalian
  • アメリカヘビウJapanese
  • ამერიკული ანჰინგაGeorgian
  • amerikinis žalčiagalvisLithuanian
  • Amerikinis žalčiakaklisLithuanian
  • Amerikas čūskkaklisLatvian
  • Burung KosaMalay
  • Fus-lvsteMuscogee
  • Fus-tahweMuscogee
  • Shádiʼááhdę́ę́ʼ tłʼiishkʼosíNavajo
  • Amerikaanse slangenhalsvogelDutch
  • amerikaslangehalsNorwegian
  • wężówka amerykańskaPolish
  • CararáPortuguese
  • anhingaPortuguese
  • biguatingaPortuguese
  • Американская змеешейкаRussian
  • anhinga jarabáSlovak
  • Američka zmijovrataSerbian
  • amerikansk ormhalsfågelSwedish
  • Amerika YılanboyunuTurkish
  • змієшийка американськаUkrainian
  • Chim cổ rắn châu MỹVietnamese
  • 美洲蛇鵜Chinese
  • 美洲蛇鹈Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the anhinga

Other species in the same genus Anhinga.

CompareAnhinga vs Oriental darterAnhinga vs African darterAnhinga vs Australasian darterAnhinga vs Anhinga beckeri

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the anhinga?

An adult anhinga weighs 1.24 kg and has a wingspan of 1.2 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the anhinga endangered?

The anhinga is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the anhinga live?

The anhinga has a recorded lifespan of 14.2 years.

What kind of animal is the anhinga?

The anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) belongs to the family Anhingidae in the order Suliformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/anhinga

MLA

“Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/anhinga.

BibTeX
@misc{anhinga_2026,
  title = {Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/anhinga},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}