[10] Typical habitat is freshwater or brackish wetlands more than 0.5 m deep with fallen trees or logs and vegetated banks; less commonly, darters are found in inland saltwater environments.

Its feathers soak up water in spaces between them, allowing the bird to reduce its natural buoyancy and swim underwater.

[11] It eats a wide variety of fish such as Australian smelt (Retropinna semoni), bony bream (Nematalosa erebi), queensland mouth breeder (Glossamia aprion), surf bream (Acanthopagrus australis), spangled perch (Leiopotherapon unicolor), flathead gudgeon (Philypnodon grandiceps), and introduced species such as redfin perch (Perca fluviatilis), goldfish (Carassius auratus) and carp (Cyprinus carpio).

Breeding takes place in spring (August to October) in southern Australia, during the wet season (January to March/April) in northern Australia,[13] in April in the Trans-Fly region of southern New Guinea, August and September in the Lower Fly and July and November around Port Moresby.

They are pale blue but covered in a layer of chalky lime, and become progressively scratched and stained over the incubation period.