An anhinga shows its iridescent plumage

[KSC-00PP-0307]

  • Photo Number: KSC-00PP-0307

  • Release Date: 29-Feb-2000

    • Description: The greenish iridescence of a male Anhinga nearly blends into the green vegetation behind it on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center. The mostly black-bodied bird is also known as a "snakebird" because, when swimming, only its head and long, slender neck are visible above water. The anhinga inhabits freshwater ponds and swamps with thick vegetation and ranges the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from North Carolina to Texas, the Mississippi Valley north to Arkansas and Tennessee, and south to southern South America. The Center shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which encompasses 92,000 acres that are a habitat for more than 331 species of birds, 31 mammals, 117 fishes, and 65 amphibians and reptiles. The marshes and open water of the refuge provide wintering areas for 23 species of migratory waterfowl, as well as a year-round home for great blue herons, great egrets, wood storks, cormorants, brown pelicans and other species of marsh and shore birds, as well as a variety of insects.

    Resolution Format Width
    (Pixels)    		 Height
    (Pixels)    		 Size
    (Bytes)
    Thumbnail GIF 68 100 10373
    Slide GIF 112 156 25350
    Low GIF 163 240 56018
    Medium JPEG 521 768 89798
    High JPEG 1813 2670 698565

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    Name: NASA Kennedy Space Center

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Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899

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    Photos By: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Scanned By: Seven/Still Photo Imaging
    Captions: InDyne, Inc.
    Curator: NASA/KSC Internet Systems Lab (Dumoulin, Downs, Paladino)
    Last Updated: Friday October 24 12:06:48 EDT 2003 (Anita Barrett)

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