Advertisement
Fun Facts
Did You Know?
Short answer: no. Slightly longer answer: we understand the confusion completely
If This Animal Could Talk...
"Watch closely, respect my space, and let my habitat explain the rest of the story."
If you've spent any time on the lakes and bayous of North Louisiana and seen what appeared to be a very long, very thin snake moving through the water with no visible body attached, congratulations — you did not see a snake. You saw one of the most bizarre and structurally unhinged birds on the continent, and you should have stopped the boat.
The anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) looks like a committee of paleontologists was given a budget and told to reconstruct a waterbird from the Cretaceous, and they mostly got it right but ran out of time on the feathers. It has a six-inch neck that it carries in a coiled S-curve like a loaded spring. It has a tail that fans out like a turkey's when it spreads it in the sun. It has wings it holds out to dry like laundry because — and this is the design choice that separates the anhinga from every other bird in North Louisiana — its feathers absorb water instead of repelling it. On purpose. That is the feature, not the bug. We'll get to why.
A Few More Facts
How they hunt and forage: Adult anhingas face limited predation, because an animal that weighs several pounds, has a spear for a face, can move through water with the efficiency of a cormorant, and occupies the kind of waterside dead timber that most mammalian predators can't easily reach has, through a combination of design and habitat selection, mostly solved the problem of being eaten. Alligators take birds at the water's edge, which is the one predator in North Louisiana that shares the anhinga's preferred habitat and has the size and speed to make something of the overlap. The anhinga knows this and the way you can tell is by watching how long it takes one to settle back onto a water-level perch after a disturbance. It doesn't rush. But it is paying attention to the water.
Live birth or eggs? no
When young are born: See the detailed species sections below.
Advertisement
Accessibility
Accessibility Notes
Bald cypresses and their drowned stands produce the specific shape you're looking for: a dark form with wings outstretched in a cross shape on an exposed perch at or near the waterline. That shape is visible from two hundred yards on a calm day and requires no specific skill to spot once you know what you're looking at. It looks like nothing else.
The heronry sounds carry across open water before you've identified any individual bird. The rapid hollow clicking and deeper croaking of adult anhingas layer into the general heronry cacophony — the herons, egrets, and cormorants all contributing to a collective noise that reaches you across the water and tells you you've found the right spot. Stop the car at Lake Bistineau State Park and listen before you look. The sound tells you which direction to point the binoculars.
For mobility-limited visitors, Lake Bistineau State Park has paved day-use areas and a fishing pier with level access close to productive anhinga habitat. The sections of cypress timber visible from the paved areas produce wing-drying anhingas within binocular range throughout the warm season. D'Arbonne NWR's gravel roads are navigable by standard vehicle. Call ahead to any NWR or WMA to confirm current road conditions before visiting.
A disturbed anhinga leaving a perch produces an audible wingbeat and a sharp, abrupt croak on departure that carries well across open water. At active colonies in April and May, the full sound environment — adult calls, nestling begging, the general heronry chaos — is audible from a considerable distance and is genuinely distinctive once you've heard it once.
Advertisement
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Anhinga live in North Louisiana?
Yes. If you've spent any time on the lakes and bayous of North Louisiana and seen what appeared to be a very long, very thin snake moving through the water with no visible body attached, congratulations — you did not see a snake. It has wings it holds out to dry like laundry because — and this is the design choice that separates the anhinga from every other bird in North Louisiana — its feathers absorb water instead of repelling it. It is genuinely one of the best birds in North Louisiana, and most people drive past it for twenty years before anyone explains what they're actually looking at.
How do you identify Anhinga?
Adult male anhingas run glossy black with an iridescent dark greenish sheen, offset by white spots and streaks across the wings and upper back that look like someone flicked a loaded brush at the bird from a distance and called it art. The tail is long, rounded, and fans dramatically. The bill is long and pointed, the neck absurdly extended, and the whole effect in good morning light is of an animal that has been assembled from different birds' parts and had it turn out better than expected. During breeding season, the bare skin around the eye turns electric turquoise-green. This is not subtle. It looks painted on, and it reads from a surprising distance. A male anhinga in full breeding plumage on a dead cypress at Bistineau in April, that turquoise eye patch catching the morning light, is one of those specific visual experiences North Louisiana birding delivers that is hard to explain to someone who hasn't seen it. It looks like something from a documentary on tropical birds. It is on a lake two hours from Shreveport.
What does Anhinga eat?
Adult anhingas face limited predation, because an animal that weighs several pounds, has a spear for a face, can move through water with the efficiency of a cormorant, and occupies the kind of waterside dead timber that most mammalian predators can't easily reach has, through a combination of design and habitat selection, mostly solved the problem of being eaten
Is Anhinga dangerous to people?
No. This species is not dangerous to people when it is observed without handling or disturbance
