Asian Openbill: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Wings over Water · day 5 of 7

Five facts

1. Adults have a gap between the two halves of the bill, as if it never quite closes. Its scientific name, oscitans, is Latin for yawning.
2. Chicks hatch with no gap at all: it only forms with age. Young birds without it can still catch snails just fine.
3. It mainly eats big water snails. It slips the tip of its lower bill into the shell's opening and pulls the snail out, all under water.
4. Openbills roam far. One bird ringed in Thailand was later found 1,500 km to the west, in Bangladesh.
5. Newly hatched chicks are covered in cream-coloured down. A parent shades them by spreading and drooping its wings over the nest.

The quiz

1. What does oscitans, the openbill's scientific name, mean in Latin?

• Snail eater
• Yawning (correct)
• White wings
• Long legs

Oscitans is the Latin word for yawning, fitting its open-looking bill.

2. When does the gap in the openbill's bill appear?

• Before it hatches
• Only in the rainy season
• It forms as the bird gets older (correct)
• When it eats its first snail

The gap is missing in young birds and only forms with age.

3. How does the openbill get a snail out of its shell?

• It drops the shell on a rock
• It waits for the snail to come out
• It pokes its lower bill tip into the opening and pulls it out (correct)
• It swallows the shell and spits it back up

It inserts the tip of its lower bill into the shell and pulls the snail out under water.

4. How far did an openbill ringed in Thailand travel to Bangladesh?

• About 1,500 km (correct)
• About 15 km
• About 150 km
• About 15,000 km

It was found 1,500 km west of where it was ringed.

5. How does a parent openbill protect its newly hatched chicks?

• By covering them with leaves
• By carrying them on its back
• By hiding them in a hole
• By shading them with its spread wings (correct)

A parent spreads and droops its wings to shade the chicks.

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