African Openbill
A species of Openbills, Also known as African Open-bill Stork Scientific name : Anastomus lamelligerus Genus : Openbills
African Openbill, A species of Openbills
Also known as:
African Open-bill Stork
Botanical name: Anastomus lamelligerus
Genus: Openbills
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Tom Tarrant , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
The African openbill is a stork 80–94 cm long with a weight of 1–1.3 kg. Its adult plumage is generally dark overall, with glossy green, brown, and purple on the mantle and breast. The bill is brownish and notably large. The legs are black and the eye is grey. The juvenile plumage is more dull and brown, with areas of pale feather tips. 
Size
94 cm
Nest Placement
Tree
Feeding Habits
African Openbill primarily feed on aquatic snails, particularly species like Pila and Lanistes ovum, extracted using its sharp mandible to sever prey muscles. They also eat mussels, occasionally consuming frogs, crabs, worms, fish, and insects. African Openbill's foraging can involve following hippopotami, which disturb mud and reveal prey.
Habitat
African Openbill predominantly inhabit extensive freshwater wetland regions within sub-Saharan Africa, including marshes, swamps, and lake or river margins. These habitats may extend to floodplains, paddyfields, and even occasionally moist savanna or burnt grassland areas. African Openbill are also known to occupy temporary wetlands such as flooded pans, and can adjust to human-altered landscapes like dams or rice paddies, particularly where their molluscan food sources thrive.
Dite type
Omnivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
The African openbill feeds almost exclusively on aquatic snails and freshwater mussels. It will, however, also eat terrestrial snail, frogs, crabs, fish, worms, and large insects. It uses its bill to detects its prey, and can use it in such a way that it easily pries open molluscs. It tends to feed singly or in small groups. The African openbill is mainly resident and non-migratory; however, it may undertake nomadic movements. Sometimes flocks move away from arid regions when the dry season begins.
Distribution Area
The African openbill is found in throughout sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Ethiopia and then south as far as KwaZulu-Natal in eastern South Africa. It is a bird of shallow wetlands and can be found wherever its molluscan prey is available, including temporarily flooded pans, flood plains, swamps, marshes, ponds, streams, river shallows, dams, rice paddies, lagoons, lake margins and intertidal mud flats.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Scientific Classification
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