I Saw A Pair of Anhingas Soaring

A couple of weeks ago, when we were at UT Southwestern Medical Center for an appointment with Dr. Lee, while looking out the 6th floor window I noticed a pair of birds soaring on thermals. They had a very striking silhoutte: very long thin neck, long narrow wings with a very straight leading edge, and a wide trianglular tail.I had never seen birds shaped like this, so I made a quick sketch.

After a bit of searching, I found this image which matches my sketch quite nicely.

It is an Anhinga, aka "snake bird" or "water turkey". They are native to the southern coastal areas of the US, and most of South America. It is a fishing bird which is very good at swimming underwater because its feathers are not oily like most water birds. This allows its feathers to get wet, which reduces its buoyancy and lets it stay submerged to catch fish and amphibians more easily.

Of course, this means that it must sit with wings outstretched to dry its feathers out before it can fly!

I love soaring birds!