Is this a water turkey?  Snake-bird?  American Darter?  Or Anhinga anhinga?

It’s all of the above.

The anhinga has many names because it’s such a strange bird.  It has a large fan tail like a turkey and a long thin neck like a snake.  It darts underwater and impales fish with its bill.  Its Latin name came from its common name which came from a South American (Tupi) word for forest demon.

The anhinga genus are tropical birds that occur worldwide, anywhere there’s warm water, lots of sun, sticks to stand on and plenty of fish.  Those in the Western Hemisphere are called “anhinga.”  The rest are called darters.

Anhingas eat fish and they swim to catch them.  Their hunting technique is to lurk and dart so they’re specially adapted to neither float nor sink.  Often they swim with only their heads and necks visible.  To achieve this neutral buoyancy they have dense bones and wettable feathers.  When their feathers are wet, they get cold and must haul themselves out of the water and spread their wings to dry.  That’s why they need lots of sun and sticks to stand on.

This, of course, means anhingas are practically unheard of in Pennsylvania.  I don’t know of a sighting in southwestern Pennsylvania but anhingas do wander and occasionally appear in spring or fall along eastern Pennsylvania migration routes.  When found, the bird is soaring and on the move.  One or two lucky birders notice it … and then it’s gone.

But they seem to be everywhere in Florida, sunning their wings.  That’s where Kim Steininger photographed this one.

(photo by Kim Steininger)

Beyond the bounds of Pennsylvania, there are beautiful birds in Florida.

How about this roseate spoonbill!

(photo by Chuck Tague.  He took this picture a few weeks ago.)

Speaking of crests, as I did yesterday, here are a couple of crested characters.

These royal terns are common on our southern coasts and found year-round on the coast of Florida.  Wherever they occur they’re hard to miss because they’re very noisy and highly social.  They always have something to say and someone to say it to.

Both of their given names are a puzzle to me.  Why are they called Sterna maxima (largest tern) when Caspian terns are larger?  According to Cornell’s Birds of North America, these are the largest crested terns though to my eye Caspians have crests too, they’re just shorter.  

And why are they called “royal?”  Perhaps because their crests suggest a royal crown.  The royal theme carries through to their collective name.  A group of royal terns is called a “highness of terns.”

So here they are, a royal highness.  I can’t tell which one is king and which the queen, they look too much alike.

(photo by Kim Steininger)

If I’m lucky I’ll see this bird in the next few days, but he won’t be this brightly colored. 

This is a ruddy turnstone in breeding plumage.  By his color you can see why he’s called “ruddy.”  “Turnstone” comes from his behavior.  This shorebird eats insects, beetles and crustaceans and literally turns stones to find them.  Of course he prefers stony, not sandy, beaches.

Ruddy turnstones breed in the Arctic and winter along our Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts.  This keeps them beyond the bounds of southwestern Pennsylvania but during migration they sometimes stop on the shores of Lake Erie.  If you drive a couple of hours to the lake in August you may see one there.  Bobby Greene photographed this one at Conneaut, Ohio.

And why do I think I’ll see a ruddy turnstone soon?   I’m on my way to Florida to visit Chuck and Joan Tague and do a lot of birding.  At some point we’ll visit a rocky jetty and perhaps find a ruddy turnstone who’s spending his winter there.

(photo by Bobby Greene)

I had promised myself that for the next two blogs I would not mention snow, but this is the photo that came up in rotation for my “Beyond Bounds” series.  I can’t help it.  He’s a snowy plover.

Once upon a time, in August 2002, a snowy plover stopped at the pond at Imperial grasslands in Allegheny County.  This bird is so rare in southwestern Pennsylvania that many, many birders made the trip to see it but I procrastinated. For a short time the pond was the Mecca of Birding and then the bird was gone.  I had procrastinated too long.  I missed him — and he would have been a Life Bird (the first I’d ever seen in my life).

Snowy plovers are uncommon in North America.  Because they rely on sparsely vegetated beaches they are listed as endangered in Mississippi and threatened in Florida and along the Pacific coast.  Fortunately they also breed at inland alkaline lakes so they’re not completely dependent on the sandy coast.

Eventually I saw my Life Bird snowy plover at Henderson, Nevada’s sewage treatment plant, also known as the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve.  As I scanned the empty empoundments with my binoculars I stopped my gaze at a little group of shorebirds.  When I saw one that looked like this I thought, “That’s a snowy plover.”  Years of flipping through the field guide had paid off.  It felt like I’d seen him before.

But I haven’t seen one since.

Steve Gosser photographed this one in Florida.

(photo by Steve Gosser)

This bird may have beautiful feathers but look at its feet, look at its face that only a mother could love.

This is the wood stork, a wading bird native to the Western Hemisphere and the only stork that breeds in the U.S.

The wood stork is found year-round in South America, along the Gulf Coast in winter and in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina during the nesting season. It feeds on fish, frogs and large insects that it feels with its sensitive bill.  It also clatters its bills to communicate because, like all storks, it has no voice.

Wood storks are beyond the bounds of western Pennsylvania except for the rare lone juvenile that may show up at Presque Isle State Park in autumn.  These solo birds probably make a fatal navigational error that takes them to the shores of Lake Erie.   The loss of these youngsters is made sadder by the fact that the wood stork is endangered due to water degradation and habitat loss.  Their population has declined so dramatically that they’re now considered an indicator species for the Everglades restoration.

Storks and motherhood are often associated but this stork is not the one who brings babies.  That’s the job of the white stork of Europe, Central Asia and Africa who nests on chimneys and roofs.

(photo by Kim Steininger)

If I had to pick a favorite tern this one is it.

The least tern is small, beautiful, animated and endangered.

Only the size of a starling, the least tern breeds on the open beaches of the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf coasts, throughout the Caribbean, and on gravel flats along rivers in Texas and the Mississippi watershed including the Missouri, Platte, Arkansas, Brazos, Trinity and Rio Grande.

Their habit of nesting on beaches has made them endangered because their nests fail completely when faced with human development and recreation.  They are especially vulnerable along rivers where channelization and dams either flood the beach or prevent the water from scouring riverbank vegetation and forming the gravel beds these birds require.  They do better in Atlantic coastal states where their beach nesting sites are roped off to keep out people, dogs and vehicles.

And, yes, these birds are cute.

The first time I saw one was mid-May in New Jersey when the terns were courting.  The females would stand on the sand while the males would chatter and fly out to the surf, capture a tiny fish and bring it back to their chosen mate.  If the lady was impressed she would chatter too, eat the fish and ultimately mate with him.  The carrying and presenting of the tiny fish was very cute and it was very like feeding a nestling, pictured here.

I wish I could see least terns more often but they live beyond the bounds of southwestern Pennsylvania.  Brian Herman photographed this parent and juvenile in New Jersey.

(photo by Brian Herman)