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Glite Dictionary
🐦 A water bird 🏃 Fast mover
darter

darter

1 9.5
A water bird with a long neck and sharp bill that catches fish
  • noun
  • /ˈdɑrtər/
translation icon : anhinga
  • Before the severe drought of the early 1950s, recorded flows at Comal Springs never dropped below the minimum flow thresholds (the two horizontal lines) suggested by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS 1995) as necessary to protect the endangered fountain darter.
  • fountain darter
  • Okaloosa darter

Examples

  • As a result of Eglin's restoration efforts, the US Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing downlisting the Okaloosa darter from endangered to threatened.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Egrets, darter cormorants, grey herons, and storks hatch nearly 30,000 chicks every year.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Comal Springs, the largest spring fed by the aquifer, is home to the endangered fountain darter and many other endemic species (USFWS 1995).

    Academic text (2004)

  • Malabar pied hornbills were also spotted in the distant trees, and Indian darters dried their wings at the edge of waterholes.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Although the Comal Springs flow remains perennial, cycles of significantly decreased flow have increased in frequency over the past 30 to 40 years, and the effects of droughts have become more severe (Crowe and Sharp 1997), threatening the fountain darter (figure 8).

    Academic text (2004)

  • The darter is often seen diving into the water to catch fish.

  • During our birdwatching trip, we spotted a darter gliding gracefully over the lake.

  • The darter has a unique ability to swim underwater while hunting for its prey.

Synonyms

snakebird
vsdarter
9.3

A large water bird with a long thin neck that eats fish

has the same meaning but is a different traditional name
anhinga
vsdarter
  • US
9.9

A water bird that eats fish and has a long thin neck and a sharp beak

is the wider term not limited to the Americas

Compounds

blue darter
  • US
9.9

A blue-grey hawk from North America that flies fast and darts through trees

snail darter
  • Specialized
9.4

A small freshwater fish that eats snails and lives in the Tennessee River

Surface Forms

darter singular
darters plural

Morphology

darter = dart (semi-transparent) = dart + er

Morphologically 'dart' + '-er' is clear, but the specific referent being a particular fish-eating bird (anhinga/snakebird) is a specialized lexical extension not fully predictable.

Etymology

Darter for the bird comes from the verb dart, meaning 'to move quickly forward', because the bird suddenly jabs its long neck and sharp bill into the water to catch fish.