Oriental Darter
Anhinga melanogaster
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderSuliformes
- FamilyAnhingidae (Darters)
- GenusAnhinga (Darters)
- SpeciesAnhinga melanogaster (Oriental Darter)
The Oriental darter (Anhinga melanogaster) is a water bird of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has a long and slender neck with a straight, pointed bill and, like the cormorant, it hunts for fish while its body is submerged in water. It spears a fish underwater, bringing it above the surface, tossing and juggling it before swallowing the fish head first. The body remains submerged as it swims, and the slender neck alone is visible above the water, which accounts for the colloquial name of snakebird. Like the cormorants, it has wettable feathers and it is often found perched on a rock or branch with its wings held open to dry. Wikipedia →
5–10% of wildlife watchers report a Oriental Darter sighting in Khao Yai National Park, based on 87 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
Closest Relatives at Khao Yai National Park
📅 Monthly Probability
🌅 When They're Spotted
Most active at dawn and dusk · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Oriental Darter in Khao Yai National Park?
About 5% of wildlife watchers report a Oriental Darter sighting in Khao Yai National Park, based on 87 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Oriental Darter in Khao Yai National Park?
September has the highest sighting rate for Oriental Darter in Khao Yai National Park in our monthly data.