Another common name, snake-bird, describes the darter's habit of swimming with its body submerged and only the snakelike head and long, curved neck exposed. In the S United States darters are called water turkeys, for no apparent reason. They nest in small colonies with ibises and herons, building bulky nests lined with leaves. The helpless young are fed by regurgitation.
Darters are strong fliers and migrate annually.
They are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Pelecaniformes, family Anhingidae. Listing from Electric Library , a pay service. Copyright 2001 Infonautics Corporation . All rights reserved. Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.