Silver gape beak
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Silver beak ( Anastomus oscitans ) |
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| ( Boddaert , 1783) |
The silver beak ( Anastomus oscitans ) is a species from the stork family (Ciconiidae). It lives as a breeding bird in tropical South Asia from India and Sri Lanka to Southeast Asia.
features
The silver gape beak is a large, broad-winged bird that is relatively small for a stork at 68 centimeters. It owes its name to its light, white to silver-colored plumage on the one hand, and to the beak, the tip of which gapes because the two halves do not lie on top of each other, on the other. Adults are always completely white and only the feathers of the wings are black, while the legs are red and the beak is yellow-gray. Young animals have a youthful dress with brown feathers.
Way of life
During flight it mainly uses the buoyancy of rising hot air. Like all storks, he walks on the ground with his head stretched out. Like most of its relatives, it feeds primarily on snails , frogs , large insects and other small animals, which it catches wading in shallow water.
The birds build their nests in trees near wetlands. The clutch consists of two to six eggs.
literature
- Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp, Tim Inskipp: Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Christopher Helm, London 1998, ISBN 0-691-04910-6 .
Web links
- Anastomus oscitans in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 31 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings for Anastomus oscitans in the Internet Bird Collection
- Details and pictures of the silver beak in Nagpur, India