African darter

Anhinga rufa

The African darter (Anhinga rufa) is a bird found in South Africa, Botswana and Kenya. Rivers, lakes and swamps across Africa. It eats fish, insects and other small invertebrates and reptiles and frogs. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Anhinga rufa
Region	Africa
Found in	South Africa, Botswana and Kenya

🏡 Where the African darter lives

Rivers, lakes and swamps across Africa.

🍽️ What it eats

🐟 Fish60%
🐛 Insects & bugs20%
🦎 Reptiles & frogs20%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 It swims with its head poking up like a snake.

Hear the African darter

Recorded by Lynette Rudman (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC397735. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the African darter

Where does the African darter live?

The African darter lives in South Africa, Botswana and Kenya. Rivers, lakes and swamps across Africa.

What does the African darter eat?

fish (about 60%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 20%), reptiles and frogs (about 20%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the African darter endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Africa

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.