African Openbill (Anastomus lamelligerus)

Family
Ciconiidae (Storks)

Size
80 - 94 cm

First Described (Guide)
Temminck, 1823

Habitat
Wetlands, including temporarily flooded pans, flood plains, swamps, marshes, ponds, streams, river shallows, dams, rice fields, lagoons, lake edges and intertidal flats.

Range (Guide)

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], C�te dIvoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of] (B), Togo, Uganda, Zambia (B), Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania.

Population
Estimated population is 300,000 - 500,000 (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Almost exclusively snails and bivalves.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files

African Openbill (Anastomus lamelligerus) [XC84191]
by id from South Luangwa National Park Wamilombe, Zambia (call)

Nest
A thin platform composed of sticks and twigs, lined with leaves, grass, sedges and other aquatic plants, usually in a tree or bush on an island or partially submerged area. In colonies of about 60 pairs, often with other species such as cormorants, herons, spoonbills, darters and storks.

Eggs (Guide)
3 - 5. Incubation: 21 - 30 days; by both sexes.

Young
Fledge in 50 - 55 days.

Subspecies
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:

lamelligerus Temminck, 1823 - Africa, south of Sahara.
madagascariensis Milne-Edwards, 1880 - Madagascar.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for African Openbill (Anastomus lamelligerus) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the African Openbill see... Show Articles

BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Articles about the African Openbill

If you would like to read any articles about the African Openbill...

Show Articles (0)

No Pictures of African Openbill

If Birdpedia has no pictures of African Openbill or you would like to see more, then try the following...

Show External Images from BING

From BING (10)

No Videos of African Openbill

If Birdpedia has no videos of African Openbill or you would like to see more, then try the following..

Show External Videos

From BING (0)

Where can I observe this species?

Select an area (or leave blank) to see locations where this species has been recorded.

Area

All

Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location.

Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.

Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	GPS help

Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	Find GPS using Google Maps

Distance	Bearing
		Get Sample GPS readings

On What Field Trips was this species observed?

Select an area (or leave blank), and a date range, to see field trips on which this species has been recorded.

Area

All

From	To

Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	GPS help

Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or

Distance	Bearing
		Get Sample GPS readings

Latest Sightings for African Openbill