The Story
I photographed this Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) near La Macarena, Meta, Colombia, in February 2021. The male is glossy black-green, with a glossy black-blue tail, while the female has a pale gray-buff or light brown head, neck and upper chest. Adults weigh about 1.2 kilograms on average. It lives in warm, shallow waters and swamps, and like the other darters it spears its prey with a sharp bill. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/2000 sec, f/16, ISO 6400, +0.5 EV. Visits to Caño Cristales, the Mirador Cristalitos and the Raudal de Angosturas in La Macarena National Park are arranged through authorized local operators.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) belongs to the family Anhingidae (Anhingas) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025). Source: IUCN Red List