Australasian Darter

During a recent bird survey in Drouin, we encountered a pair of darters on the lake at McNeilly Park.

Similar to cormorants, Darters are generally larger but instead of a hooked bill for grabbing fish, they have a pointed bill which is used for spearing their prey. Small fish and crustaceans are often swallowed underwater but larger fish are taken to the shore and manipulated into a head-first alignment before they are swallowed whole.

After a fishing expedition, the Darter spends a lot of time resting with wings outstretched. Its feathers are not particularly water repelling which enables it to swim easily under water but this comes at a cost: the bird must dry its feathers so as not to remain soaked for long periods.

They are slender birds with long, flexible necks which are often the only visible part of their body showing above the water when they swim – the ‘snake-bird’.

Darters are mostly found on still freshwater bodies such as wetlands, lakes and dams. Sometimes they can be encountered in estuarine localities. They are distributed widely throughout Australia except for the arid central zone.

Although Darters appear to be mostly a solitary species, they will often nest in small colonies. They build a nest consisting of a platform of sticks in a tree and they prefer to have their nests over the water.