The Anhinga is an uncommon and iconic fowl. Its snake-like neck, sharp dagger-like invoice, and distinctive general look have earned it such nicknames because the “Satan Hen,” the “Snake Hen,” and the “Water Turkey.” Anhingas are placing birds which hunt alongside waterways. Whereas most different diving birds stalk their prey from the water’s edge, Anhingas really swim, chasing prey by the water.
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Cormorant-like, however very a lot distinctive, Anhingas are normally present in South and Central America, in addition to sections of the American South, particularly in heat coastal areas. This is the reason it was such a shock when one turned up in Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Anhinga was discovered on one of many Three Sisters Islands in Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn, New York. On the time of writing, this fowl has been in Prospect Park for a number of weeks. It’s the first ever Anhinga to be recorded in Kings County and the second on file in New York Metropolis since 1992.
With this in thoughts, it will be simple to imagine that the Anhinga is simply your typical vagrant fowl. Vagrant birds are birds that pop up in areas far outdoors of their common ranges. This sometimes happens as a result of navigational subject throughout migration. Throughout the busy spring migration season, vagrancy will not be terribly unusual.
What’s uncommon on this case is the truth that this Anhinga, regardless of being very uncommon on this particular space, could also be part of a bigger sample of Anhinga enlargement. Not lengthy earlier than the Brooklyn Anhinga was noticed, a birdwatcher in Rome, New York, which lies practically 200 miles north of New York Metropolis, noticed a gaggle of Anhingas. When the sudden guests had been counted, they numbered 22 particular person birds.
When lots of the similar species of fowl pop up in an uncommon space throughout a selected season, that is known as an irruption. Irruptions normally happen as a result of modifications within the inhabitants density or meals provide, as is the case for Snowy Owls which expertise irruptions with relative regularity after rodent populations growth.
Whereas the Anhingas in New York may be known as an irruption, some scientists speculate that this would possibly really be the advance get together of an Anhingas, representing an general push to the north. Anhingas like heat coastal areas and thrive in areas that present this local weather. As world temperatures heat, beforehand hostile areas turn into able to accommodating Anhinga populations. This is only one small piece of a really difficult local weather puzzle which is affecting fowl populations in ways in which we don’t but have the instruments, knowledge, or hindsight to completely perceive.
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