Mystery Bird: Australian Darter, Anhinga novaehollandiae

As it's Australia, Australian Darter ( Anhinga) with a white "moustache" which rules out the other Darters in the region (I think).

Adrian, there are four living species in the family Anhingidae: the Anhinga or American Darter, Anhinga anhinga; the Oriental or Indian Darter, Anhinga melanogaster; the African Darter, Anhinga rufa ; and the Australasian or Australian Darter, Anhinga novaehollandiae ... the latter (Anhinga novaehollandiae) is the only darter found in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.

Originally the Old World darters were all considered subspecies of A. melanogaster but are now classified as distinct species.

All have black and dark brown plumage, a short crest on the nape and a sharply pointed bill but with no external nostrils, completely webbed feet, and their legs set far back on the body. Because the plumage on our photo is relatively dark and females and immatures are grey-brown above, pale grey to white below, this is a male.

male Australasian Darter, Australia

male American Darter, Florida

male African Darter, Gambia

male Oriental Darter, India

very weird/annoying- I'm sure I posted a comment and a range of photos to you Adrian a couple of days ago...

there is only one species of Anhinga in Australia, the Australasian Darter or Australian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae) found in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea..

another give-away from the photo above: all of the Anhingidae lack external nostrils

Hello David, Yes I tried to update my comment here as well but it did not appear. Oriental Darter doesn't get to the Australasian region so this is the only one here.