Australasian Darter — Australian Bird Identification Guide

Bird guideAustralasian Darter

Often seen swimming with only its long snake-like neck above water, earning it the nickname 'snakebird'.

⚠️Not listed

🍃Indigenous: Garragarrag, Manan, Garrakgarrak, Garrakarrak, Madjiga, Garrag Garrag, Daibadak, Ma-Garrakgarrak, Wurrubudug, Manyjangali, Yanggalan, Arrgarrg

At a glance

FamilyAnhingas

SizeGiant

RarityCommon

HabitatDistribution and habitat Typical habitat is freshwater or brackish wetlands more than 0.5 m deep with fallen trees or logs and vegetated banks; less commonly, darters are found in inland saltwater environments.

Best timeReported across most months in Queensland, with no narrow seasonal peak.

Sounds

Sound sample

0:000:00

Recorded by Peter Boesman

Range map

Occurrence window

200approx hotspots

367908approx records

6states

Low confidenceMediumHigh confidence

Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.

Species notes

Overview

Swims snake-like with body submerged, and just its head and neck protruding from the water. In flight it can sometimes look like a large raptor, especially when soaring, but note the long neck and bill.