Anhinga novaehollandiae
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The Australasian darter or Australian darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae) is a species of bird in the darter family, Anhingidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It weighs around 2.6 kg and spans 86–94 cm (34–37 in) in length.
John Gould described the Australasian darter as Plotus novaehollandiae in 1847. Closely related to American (Anhinga anhinga), African (Anhinga rufa), and Oriental (Anhinga melanogaster) darters, the Australasian darter has been classed as a subspecies of the African or African plus Oriental darters. All four have also been classed as a single species. Examination of the leg bones indicates the three Old World species are more closely related to each other with the American species more divergent. Genetic analysis showed it differed from A. rufa to a degree equivalent to that between other separate species, and shifted consensus to treating the Australasian darter as a separate species.
Fossils of the Australasian darter have been recovered from several Pleistocene strata in Australia. As well as Australasian darter, common names given to the species include darter, diver, needle-beak shag, shag, and snake-bird. The Noongar... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Booderee National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 14 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleland Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Billabong Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Darter sighting in Hattah-Kulkyne National Park on a given day, based on 448 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 45th most-seen of the 170 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Darter in Hattah-Kulkyne National Park on a given day, against about 10% in September, the lowest month. That is one of Hattah-Kulkyne National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 40 mm in November.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Australian Darter sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Australian Darter sightings, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park ranks 3rd at about 30%. The best odds are in Kakadu National Park (Australia, about 40%) and Daintree National Park (Australia, about 30%).
Same order: Suliformes
The closest relatives of the Australian Darter that you can see in Hattah-Kulkyne National Park (order Suliformes, Gannets, Cormorants, and Allies) are Great Cormorant (about 20%), Little Black Cormorant (about 20%) and Little Pied Cormorant (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Australian Darter is recorded against all the birds logged in Hattah-Kulkyne National Park (448 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
