This is Birdnut.

Spanish moss hangs eerily from Cypress trees rising from the black water of the Louisiana

Bayou.

The water ripples were a slender form glides just beneath the surface.

At first glance it appears to be a snake, but look closer and you just might see a long

narrow spike of a beak at the tip of a slender neck.

It's a snakebird, a colloquial name for the anhinga, swimming with just its head and

neck above the water.

Anhinga is belong to a small group of birds called the Darders, and they look a bit like

Cormorants.

When hunting fish, an anhinga hangs motionless in the water, or swims slowly just below the

surface.

Its neck croaked, almost like a cobra's.

The anhinga has specialized muscles and a hinge in its neck.

And when an unwary fish swims close, the birds head darts forward, impaling its prey.

Backward slanted serrations keep the fish from slipping off.

Surfacing with its beak held just slightly open, the bird flicks the fish upward and catches

it in midair.

Then it downs it headfirst.

And once again, the anhinga glides through the black water.

As always, you'll find photos and videos on our website, birdnote.org.

I'm Michael Stein.

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