Oriental Darter

The Oriental darter is a cormorant-like water bird with a very long, slender neck and a straight, pointed bill. Adults are black, with silvery streaks along the wing coverts and tertials and a pale line over the eye and down the sides of the neck that gives a striped look; the crown and neck are brownish, darkening towards the back. The iris is white with a yellow ring. A kink in the neck at the eighth and ninth vertebrae, with strong muscles, lets it dart its head forward to stab fish, and tiny inward-pointing serrations near the bill tip hold its prey (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives mainly on freshwater lakes and streams and usually hunts alone, swimming slowly with its body submerged so that only the snake-like neck shows, which earns it the name snakebird. It spears a fish underwater, brings it to the surface, tosses and juggles it, and swallows it head first. Its feathers are wettable, so it often perches on a rock or branch with its wings spread to dry (Wikipedia, general species account).