openbill

1 9.9

A stork with a beak open in the middle that takes snails from shells

noun

Indian

: cigüeña de pico abierto

The African openbill feeds primarily on snails in wetlands.

Examples

The openbill is often seen wading in shallow waters.
The unique beak of the openbill helps it extract its prey from shells.
Birdwatchers were excited to spot an Asian openbill near the river.
Have you ever spotted an openbill in the wild?
The openbill uses its unique bill to catch snails and other aquatic prey in wetlands.
In the wetlands, we observed a group of openbills foraging for food among the reeds.
The distinctive shape of the openbill's beak helps it to efficiently gather food from shallow waters.

Synonyms

Anastomus

vsopenbill

Specialized

9.9

A large stork-like bird with an open bill that eats snails, found in Asia and Africa

is the common descriptive name focusing on the bill shape rather than the genus

Surface Forms

openbill singular

openbills plural

Morphology

openbill = open + bill (transparent) = open + bill

A straightforward compound of 'open' + 'bill' describing the bird's distinctive beak, so its meaning is directly inferable.

Etymology

The word openbill is simply the two parts open and bill, and bill here means 'beak'. The name fits the stork because its upper and lower parts touch only at the bottom and the tip, so the bill looks slightly open.