High and dry: Australasian darter
February 5, 2016
The feathers of the Australasian darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae) are permeable to water to allow for decreased buoyancy so they can sink to catch their prey.
Image credit: Chris Reeves
Unusually for a water bird, darter’s feathers are not water repellent and need to be dried out before taking flight to reduce weight and conserve energy.
This week’s reader photo was taken on the NSW central coast by AG reader, Chris Reeves.
“After a few days of rain the sun finally came out on the second last day of 2015. My sister and I went for a walk to the beach and it’s a good thing we did, otherwise I would not have seen the darter drying its wings out after a morning’s fishing. This photo was shot on a 7D Mark II and Canon 100-400 L version II.”
Chris took up photography a couple of years ago, beginning with flower macro photography and soon switching to birds.
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