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African Openbill
One of two species of stork in the genus "Anastomus" which have a peculiar gap between the mandibles. The other is the Asian Openbill. The oddly shaped bill facilitates foraging on Apple Snails. The snail is held in the upper mandible and the lower mandible punctures the hard operculum while a salivary secretion from the stork relaxes the snails tough muscle. Typically the snail is removed from its shell without damaging the shell at all. These snails are immune to almost all other forms of predation, so these storks are an important population check on the snails.
Location
Kunduchi Salt Flats, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Date taken
21 December 2024.
Scientific name
Anastomus lamelligerus
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Media information

Category
Africa
Added by
jmorlan
Date added
View count
73
Comment count
1

Image metadata

Device
Canon Canon PowerShot SX70 HS
Aperture
ƒ/6.3
Focal length
206.6 mm
Exposure time
1/1000 second(s)
ISO
160
Filename
AfricanOpenbillIMG_2787.jpg
File size
261.1 KB
Date taken
Thu, 21 November 2024 8:36 AM
Dimensions
1024px x 764px

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