Educational Copy for Social Media

The Anhinga, a water bird commonly found in the warmer regions of north America, is known by many names— snakebird, water turkey, American darter, and sometimes “devil bird.” The word anhinga is derived from “a'ñinga” in the Brazilian Tupi language, a subdivision of the Tupi-Guarani linguistic families, meaning devil or snake bird. The Tupi people were one of the largest groups of indigenous Brazilians before its colonization. Scholars believe that while they first settled in the Amazon rainforest, from about 2,900 years ago the Tupi started to migrate southward and gradually occupied the Atlantic coast of Southeast Brazil.

Aside from the male anhinga’s black feathers and red eyes, this moniker comes from their serpentine appearance in the water— completely submerged apart from their long neck and small head— which gives the impression of a snake coiling back to strike. It was for this behavior that they may have been considered a foreboding omen for the Tupi as they slithered out from the river banks to hunt for prey.

Today, while the Anhinga is listed under LC (least concern) on the IUCN Red List, the populations of these beautiful birds have been steadily decreasing since 1996 due to competition with invasive species and habitat loss.

A fun fact about Anhingas— they don’t have a nose! This bird has no external nares (nostrils) and breathes solely through its epiglottis, the leaf-shaped flap in the back of the throat that prevents food and water from entering the trachea and the lungs.