26 Animals That Can Swim and Fly

This little gray songbird, also known as the water ouzel, lives in mountainous areas, where it walks in rocky brooks and streams, disappearing underwater to feed on aquatic insects and their larvae.

A genus of large waterbird, pelicans comprise eight species. The American white pelican is one of the largest birds in North America, with a wingspan of up to ten feet. Pelicans often cooperate when feeding, corralling fish into shallow water, then scooping them into their pouched bills.

Also called a snakebird, water turkey, or American darter, the anhinga swims underwater with its long, dark neck and head raised up, giving the appearance of a snake about to strike. It spears fish with its sharp bill.

These stocky seabirds spend months at a time far from land, bobbing in the ocean, diving up to 200 feet to find food, and sleeping afloat on the surface. When in flight, their small wings beat 400 times a minute to keep them aloft.

These sea ducks with bulbous heads comprise three species. The Barrow’s goldeneye spends winters in coastal estuaries and inland lakes that don’t freeze over, diving underwater in search of crustaceans, mussels, aquatic insects, and vegetation.

Avid shoal fishers, the six species of boobies are known for their majestic dives into the ocean from high in the air. Blue-footed boobies often hunt in flocks, feeding on large schools of fish, and are capable of diving to depths of 80 feet.

With their sharp bills, terns feed on fish and occasionally on insects in lakes and oceans throughout the world. Some species, such as the Caspian tern, are known to rise to great heights in the air before plunging into the water.

A type of auk, the common murre spends most of its time at sea and rarely comes to land except to nest. Murres can fly up to 50 mph and regularly swim up to 100 feet below the surface to catch fish.

Often mistaken for ducks, coots are a genus of birds common in open waters throughout North and South America, Northern Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia. They feed mainly on algae and other aquatic vegetation, but are also known to eat molluscs and insects.

Cormorants are a family of seven genera (and around 40 species) of web-footed aquatic birds. They feed on fish, eels, and water snakes, often diving from the surface of the water to the seafloor to catch bottom-feeders.

Ducks are a waterfowl that share the family Anatidae with geese and swans. They eat a variety of grasses, aquatic plants, fish, molluscs, insects, and worms. Some are surface feeders who bob on the water and tip their heads under, while some dive deeper and forage underwater.

There are six species of flamingos around the world, all of which are omnivores. They filter mud and feed on algae, brine shrimp, insects, molluscs, and crustaceans. Although they usually wade in water to feed, they can also swim in deeper waters while foraging.

A family of flying fish that consists of 64 species, Exocoetidae are known for taking multiple consecutive flights from the water, and are capable of traveling over 1,000 feet at a time. Their extended pectoral and pelvic fins help them breach the water, which they do to escape predators.

Waterbirds most commonly found in freshwater lakes and marshes, grebes resemble loons, coots, and ducks. Although a few flightless species exist, most grebes can fly as well as swim. They make floating nests out of vegetation, and the young are able to swim as soon as they hatch.

These pheasant-sized birds with blue faces, maroon eyes, and striking plumage are not terribly good at flying, but are capable of soaring out of trees. They are excellent swimmers, however, and tend to live near rivers and marshes, feasting on leaves, berries, and flowers.

These squids tend to live near the surface of the water and can be seen flying distances of 100 feet in order to escape predators or to save energy as they migrate. To propel themselves above the surface, they shoot out a jet of water and sometimes flap their tentacles as they soar.

Large arctic sea ducks, eiders nest in frozen tundras and spend winters in arctic and subarctic seas, eating shellfish and foraging up to 80 feet under the surface. They have been known to migrate in huge flocks of over 100,000 birds.

There are five species of loons, also known as divers, in the northern hemisphere. They are excellent swimmers with webbed feet, and only come to land to mate or nest. They eat mostly fish, which they catch underwater in high speed chases.

Not a true goose, the magpie goose is the sole member of the waterbird family Anseranatidae, found mainly in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. With much longer legs than geese, magpie geese wade through wetlands and feed on vegetation.

There are four species of merganser, two which are common in the northern hemisphere, and two which are endangered and inhabit small ranges in Brazil and East Asia. Although they are considered sea ducks, they prefer river habitats, where they feed mainly near the surface of the water.

This genus of rays is found across the oceans in tropical waters. They are known as flying rays for their ability to soar out of the water. Often jumping in groups, the rays are known to take six-foot leaps through the air for hours at a time, although scientists haven’t figured out a definitive reason for this behavior.

Closely related to boobies, gannets are a genus of large seabird with three species, the most common being the northern gannet, which is endemic to North Atlantic coasts. Gannets are known to plunge into the water at high speeds to catch fish, which they swallow underwater before resurfacing.

Related to terns, gulls are a group of 54 species of seabirds that live in coastal areas worldwide. They are adaptable eaters who often consume fish, crustaceans, insects, amphibians, and many other available sources from the air, land, and sea.

The closest living relative of the extinct great auk, the razorbill is a seabird that inhabits subarctic waters in the Atlantic. Only coming to land to breed, razorbills spend the majority of their lives on the water, where they dive deep to catch schooling fish.

A family of long-necked, long-legged wading birds, storks comprise 19 species that are most common in the tropics. Majestic in flight, storks can have huge wingspans; they are not very good swimmers due to their minimal toe webbing, but have been known to swim on occasion.

There are six species of swans, large white waterfowl that are found in temperate areas. They forage both on land and in the water, where they generally submerge only their bill, or sometimes their whole forebody.