Oriental darter

Anhinga melanogaster

The Oriental darter (Anhinga melanogaster) is a bird found in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia. Wetlands across South and Southeast Asia. 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 melanogaster
Region	Asia
Found in	India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia

🏡 Where the Oriental darter lives

Wetlands across South and Southeast Asia.

🍽️ 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 spears fish with its pointed bill, and hangs its wings out to dry.

Hear the Oriental darter

Recorded by Uku Paal (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1096605. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Oriental darter

Where does the Oriental darter live?

The Oriental darter lives in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia. Wetlands across South and Southeast Asia.

What does the Oriental 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 Oriental darter endangered?

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

More birds from Asia

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