African Openbill (Anastomus lamelligerus)

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.