African Openbill: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Storks and Ibises · day 7 of 7

Five facts

1. The two halves of its bill touch only at the tip, leaving a gap in the middle. Young birds have no gap: it opens up as they grow older.
2. Scientists first guessed the gap worked like a nutcracker for snail shells. In fact, it helps the stork get a good grip on them.
3. It sometimes hunts from a hippo's back. As the hippo wades, it turns over water plants and uncovers the snails clinging underneath.
4. Chicks are very fussy eaters and only want molluscs. Given a fish, a young openbill may try to swallow it sideways or backwards.
5. Its shiny wing and chest feathers are unusual. Instead of the normal feather structure, each one ends in a flat ribbon that shimmers.

The quiz

1. Where do the two halves of an adult openbill's bill meet?

• Along their whole length
• Only at the tip (correct)
• Only near the face
• In two places, with two gaps

They meet only at the tip, which gives the openbill its name.

2. What does the gap in its bill actually help with?

• Cracking snail shells
• Filtering mud
• Catching flies in the air
• Gripping snail shells (correct)

It is not a nutcracker: the gap helps it grasp snail shells.

3. On which animal's back does the openbill sometimes stand to hunt snails?

• A hippopotamus (correct)
• An elephant
• A crocodile
• A giraffe

The hippo turns over plants and exposes snails for the stork.

4. What may a young openbill do when given a fish?

• Gulp it down at once
• Share it with a nestmate
• Try to swallow it sideways or backwards (correct)
• Ask for more fish

Chicks do not know how to eat fish and swallow it the wrong way.

5. What do its special shiny feathers look like?

• Tiny balls
• Hollow tubes
• Flat, shimmering ribbons (correct)
• Curly hooks

Each has a single ribbon-shaped body that creates the shimmer.

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