and if you look at the bird from head to neck, it does look a bit like a green snake. It uses its strong neck muscles and pointed beak as a spear to dart its fish prey from shallow waters.

Once underneath, the darter's structured vertebrae (ie, a bend in the 7th, 8th and 9th vertebrae) in the long neck allow it to shoot its dagger-like bill like a spring and spear fish on one end.