African darter

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African darter
African darter (Anhinga rufa), male in breeding plumage

African darter ( Anhinga rufa ), male in breeding plumage

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Suliformes
Family : Darter (Anhingidae)
Genre : Darter ( anhinga )
Type : African darter
Scientific name
Anhinga rufa
( Daudin , 1802)
In females and young birds, the plumage is duller colored.
African darter with impaled fish

The African darter ( Anhinga rufa ) is a species of bird in the family of the darter (Anhingidae). It was previously considered a subspecies of the Old World darter , but has been recognized as a separate species since 2005. He settled waters and wetlands in Africa south of the Sahara . The species is also found in Mesopotamia and Madagascar . In Turkey , where they hatched to the 20th century, it became extinct.

description

The African darter is between 85 and 97 cm long and has a wingspan between 116 and 128 cm. The beak length is between 7.1 and 8.7 cm, the weight is between 1.17 and 1.35 kg.

The body plumage is largely dark to blackish. The head and neck are reddish brown except for the shoulders, with the top being significantly darker. On the sides of the head and a little way down the neck there is a white stripe, the feathers of which are elongated during the breeding season. The male's throat is greenish black during the breeding season. The shoulder feathers are elongated in a lanceolate shape. On the hand and arm covers there are light shaft lines that form a light band on the spread wing. In contrast to the closely related species, Indian darter ( Anhinga melanogaster ) and Australian darter ( A. novaehollandiae ), they are more knife-shaped than tongue-shaped. Beak, legs and feet can be colored very variably.

In males in breeding plumage, the black areas are jet black and sometimes very shiny. Females are much more dull in color. Birds in juvenile plumage resemble the females, but the white parts of the female are more yellowish brown, the black ones more brown.

Geographic variation

Three subspecies are recognized:

Distribution and existence

Brood distribution of the African darter

The African darter inhabits almost all of Africa south of the Sahara with some gaps in the west, the Horn of Africa and the south. Madagascar is also populated. A remaining population settles in the southern Mesopotamia in southern Iraq and Iran . In southern Turkey , where the species was once abundant on the Amik Golü , it became extinct in the course of the 20th century because the habitats were drained.

The species is not uncommon in Africa or abundant locally, and its overall population is not threatened. Sometimes there are large colonies such as in western Tanzania, where 10,000 pairs are breeding in Changana, or in the Senegal Delta in Mauritania , where 450 pairs have been counted.

hikes

The species is usually resident . However, if the drought persists, local migrations can occur. The species has been found twice as a stray visitor to Morocco .

habitat

The African darter mainly inhabits calm and shallow inland waters such as freshwater or soda lakes , slow-flowing rivers, swamps or reservoirs . The species is less common in river deltas, brackish water areas and mangroves or at lagoons. The habitat must be scattered overhoppers , gallery-like trees or densely overgrown islets.

nutrition

The African darter feeds primarily on fish. The food spectrum varies geographically. Commonly caught species include various cichlids and carp fish . Also amphibians , snakes , turtles and aquatic invertebrates such as insects , crustaceans and molluscs . Like all darter, it captures fish by watching them underwater and impaling them with its beak, but not pursuing them over long distances.

Reproduction

Clutch of the subspecies Anhinga rufa chantrei in the Toulouse Museum

The breeding season in some regions is seasonal, in others it extends over the whole year. The species usually breeds in colonies and also socializes with cormorants or walking birds . The nest is a platform made of twigs or reed plants , which is about two meters above the water. The clutch usually consists of three to five, more rarely two to six eggs, which are incubated for between 26 and 30 days. The young can fledge about seven weeks after hatching.

Sexual maturity is reached after two years at the earliest. The maximum lifespan was nine years in nature and 16 years in captivity.

literature

  • Josep del Hoyo , Nigel Collar, Ernest Garcia: African Darter (Anhinga rufa) . In: J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, AD Christie, E. de Juana (Eds.): Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2014
  • Richard Schodde, Guy M. Kirwan , Richard Porter: Morphological differentiation and speciation among darters (Anhinga). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 12/2012, 132 (4), pp. 283-294.

Web links

Commons : African darter ( Anhinga rufa )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files