anhinga

Any fish-eating bird of the family Anhingidae (order Pelecaniformes), sometimes considered a single species (Anhinga anhinga) with geographical variants. Anhingas are about 35 in. (90 cm) long, slender, and long-necked. They are mostly black, with silvery wing markings. Males, glossed with green, develop pale head plumes and a dark “mane” in breeding season. Anhingas live in small colonies along lakes and rivers in tropical to warm temperate regions except in Europe. They swim nearly submerged; the head and neck show above water, darting snakelike from side to side.