African Openbill Stork

Anastomus lamelligerus at the San Diego Zoo

Meet yet another cool animal that I encountered on vacation... albeit one that has significantly less written about it.

This is the African Openbill Stork, a species that can be found throughout the wetlands of the Sub-Saharan Africa in resident populations.

Though the dude in my picture is playing with a dead mouse, these large birds most commonly feed on snails and various bivalves in the water. They have special beaks that let them sever the snail shell muscles to get to the meat. Other critters can take longer to kill.

African Openbill Storks live in colonies that are comprised of several dozen breeding pairs. These pairs are monogamous and share nest-building, incubating, and chick rearing duties.

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IUCN Status : Least Concern
Location : Southern and Central Africa
Size : Length up to 3.2ft (1m)

Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Aves -- Order : Ciconiiformes
Family : Ciconiidae -- Genus : Anastomus -- Species : A. lamelligerus