# Help identifying a bird?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 24, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736 "2011-01-24T03:32:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736/1 "2011-01-24T03:32:07Z")
I don’t have a photo or possibly that helpful information, but it’s been driving me crazy and I can’t seem to find it on the Florida wildlife websites.
Description (as is): medium sized, wading-bird proportions, long dark green neck with scruffy-looking feathers. Seen sitting on a rock at the beach. The lifeguard had no idea what it was, either- just that he’d seen it around. (Closest-looking neck on Google is something called an anhinga, but that one’s black. I’m pretty sure this guy was green).
Thank you
(next time on **Malleus’s Florida Adventures** : “What’s this lizard and where do I find more?”)
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736/2 "2011-01-24T03:38:44Z")
Anhinga was my first guess, with the scruffy feathers. Here’s an image of one where the neck isn’t black (though I’m not sure you would call it “green”, either):
[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Anhinga\_anhinga\_f\_1.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Anhinga_anhinga_f_1.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736/3 "2011-01-24T04:27:10Z")
The neck of a male Anhinga is black, and that of the female is buff. I don’t think they would look very green under any lighting conditions. It would be very unusual for one to be sitting on a rock at the beach. They are usually along rivers or in swamps.
The only Anhinga-shaped bird that might be sitting on a rock on a beach in Florida would be a [Double-crested Cormorant,](http://blogs.wvgazette.com/johnmccoy/files/2010/12/Double_crested_Cormorant1.jpg) but they are also mainly black.
I’m a little confused by you’re reference to “wading bird proportions,” since the Anhinga isn’t a wading bird. Did it have long legs like a wading bird, or short ones like an Anhinga?
There is no wading bird in Florida with a green neck. The [Glossy Ibis](http://www.oceanwanderers.com/GlossyIbis.1413.JPG) and [Green Heron](http://www.ridgewoodcameraclub.org/member_gallery/Green%20Heron%20O'Malley%20P.jpg) are greenish on the back, but not on the neck.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736/4 "2011-01-24T04:54:19Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> It would be very unusual for one to be sitting on a rock at the beach. They are usually along rivers or in swamps.
Good point (and you’re the go-to expert in these parts on the topic). I’ve seen several anhingas during visits to Florida, but it’s always been while we’ve been inland (usually while driving through swampy areas).
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736/5 "2011-01-24T11:54:50Z")
If the neck was green, what was the colour of the rest of the plumage?
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### Author:  [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736/6 "2011-01-24T13:28:16Z")
In the right light, a [Tricolored Heron’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricolored_Heron) neck might look dark-greenish.
Also, here in Florida, the best place to find lizards is everywhere.
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736/7 "2011-01-24T14:00:46Z")
> [@MikeS](#):
>
> Also, here in Florida, the best place to find lizards is everywhere.
Quoted for truth…we spent a week at a resort in Orlando last September and spent a lot of time playing “Spot the Anole” on the landscaped patio. That and trying to avoid stepping on them as they crisscrossed the paths.
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### Author:  [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736/8 "2011-01-24T17:03:24Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> I’m a little confused by you’re reference to “wading bird proportions,” since the Anhinga isn’t a wading bird.
That’s why I decided it wasn’t an anhinga that just looked greenish in the light. I think it had a long neck and bill. Come to think of it, its tail and wings were covering most of its legs, the way it was sitting. Long tail.
> [@Quartz](#):
>
> If the neck was green, what was the colour of the rest of the plumage?
I think the whole thing was dark green, it was just that the neck really stood out for me. Maybe it was greener than the rest, or the sun was hitting it.
> [@MikeS](#):
>
> Also, here in Florida, the best place to find lizards is everywhere.
All right, change that to “What’s the best temperature?” (answer: higher than it is now, apparently)
Maybe my mysterious bird was an out-of-area guy that got lost. The lifeguard did say he didn’t know what it was and he hadn’t seen others like it.
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### Author:  [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-identifying-a-bird/568736/9 "2011-01-25T01:54:42Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> The only Anhinga-shaped bird that might be sitting on a rock on a beach in Florida would be a [Double-crested Cormorant,](http://blogs.wvgazette.com/johnmccoy/files/2010/12/Double_crested_Cormorant1.jpg) but they are also mainly black.
That’s what I thought it might be. It is described as having a green sheen in breeding season and the top right picture in the gallery on [this page](http://www.birdinginformation.com/birds/comorants/double-crested-cormorant/) shows a distinctly green head and neck.