Have you ever been out on a walk or hike with others and confidently identified a nearby bird or plant, only to be told that you are mistaken? You aren’t alone, this has happened to everyone. There are so many species that look alike. Sometimes they do this for protection but sometimes it just happens by chance! Regardless this can make it really hard when it comes to identification, so I decided it was time to start a new short series called  Field Guide Face-Off. My goal with this series is to help you when it comes to identifying natures various doppelgangers when you are out and about. I hope to provide some easy tips to ensure you know what you are looking at, so you can impress your friends and family! So let’s get started!

Our first species we are going to cover that can be easily confused:

Anhinga vs Double-crested Cormorant

I’m almost embarrassed to admit how long this one took me to learn. Not because it’s difficult but because my bird knowledge was severely lacking when I first moved to Florida.

Both of these species are often found sitting by bodies of water with their wings outstretched to dry them off due to the lack of oil glands on their feathers. When these species get their feathers wet, it makes them heavy and can prevent them flying. Spreading out their wings, provides an opportunity to sun them and dry them off. They are also both dark in color with long necks, so it’s pretty easy to see how they can get mixed up.

How to Tell Them Apart

• Swim Style: Anhinga’s can be found swimming with only their head and neck above the surface. This style of swimming has kindly crowned them the “snakebird” due to the resemblance of a snake when in the water. Cormorant’s on the other hand can be found swimming with the head, neck, AND back exposed making them appear more like a duck.

• Beaks: Anhinga’s have sharp, pointy beaks they use to spear for their fish. Cormorant’s have a beak that ends with a sharp curve.

• Tail: Anhinga’s have a long black tail with a light brown or even white appearing tip. Their tails can be seen narrow but they have the ability to fan it out almost taking on a turkey like appearance. Cormorant’s have a shorter tail that appear all dark brown or black.
• Coloring: When outstretched, Anhinga’s wing feathers are black and white while the cormorant appears all black.

• Breeding Season: During mating season, anhinga’s will form bluish rings around their eyes. For the double-crested cormorant, both their eye and their mouth can turn a bright blue color during breeding season.
• Flying: When in the sky, anhinga’s can be seen soaring through the air and only flapping their wings occasionally. Cormorants continuously flap their wings when in flight.

References

Anhinga. Audubon. (n.d.). https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/anhinga

Double-crested cormorant. Audubon. (n.d.-b). https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/double-crested-cormorant

U.S. Department of the Interior. (2018, June 6). Anhinga: Species profile. National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/ever/learn/nature/anhinga.htm

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