Anhingas and Cormorants

Double-crested cormorant - Shiloh Marsh Rd MINWR

How many times have you passed by a bird with its wings outstretched like the one seen above? Why does this bird species do this so often? Fact of the matter is he is trying to dry out. These birds as well as a look-alike bird, the anhinga, do not possess the oil glands that other birds use to “water-proof” themselves. Most aquatic birds like ducks, grebes, and geese regularly oil their feathers by rubbing their beaks on an oil gland at the base of their tails and then treat their feathers by rubbing the oil onto their body and wings. The transferred oil serves as a water-proof coating and allows those birds to float along for hours without getting water-logged.

Cormorants and anhingas (like this one found at Shiloh Marsh in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge) would find water-proofing to be a major disadvantage to their preferred method of hunting, however. Both cormorants and anhingas feed by diving down into the water and chasing their prey down. Anhingas spear their quarry and Cormorants swim after the fish at high speeds to catch and grab them in their bills. Being water-logged is a benefit since it allows them to easily stay under water for extended periods of time.

You may also notice that when you see an anhinga or cormorant swimming, they are mostly submerged. At that point the bird is probably saturated and needs to haul out of the water and dry out. The anhinga seen in the shot above is reaching that point as you can see its body is totally submerged. Mother Nature certainly has a way of seeing to it that each species is perfectly adapted to its “way of life”. These two birds are perfect examples of that!