Oriental Darter

The Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster) is a moderately large water bird occurring in South and Southeast Asia. The birds share many characteristics with cormorants: they prey mostly on fish while swimming in lakes, rivers, or other water bodies. Actually, darters impale fish with their long and sharp bills during dives. After surfacing, they toss the prey into the air and swallow it head-first. They can be differentiated from cormorants by their longer and comparatively slender neck which caused their colloquial name of snakebird. In general, the birds live solitarily and consequently I spotted only one individual during my walk along the Hamirsar Tank in Bhuj, Kachchh, western India, in January 2015.

Oriental Darter