Bird watching in Thailand: The Indian gaper (Anastomus oscitans)

The Indian gaper (Anastomus oscitans) is a large wading bird in the stork family. It is found in tropical Asia. This includes the countries from India and Sri Lanka to Southeast Asia.

The Indian gaper is a broad-winged, high-flying bird that often thermals on warm air currents. It is a fairly small stork-like creature, with a length of between 68 and 81 centimeters standing on the ground.

In general, it is a gray bird. The shoulders, flight feathers and some parts of the tail are black in color. During the breeding season, the gray plumage changes to a bright white plumage and the black feathers take on a beautiful sheen with purple and green colors. The plumage changes back to gray after the eggs are laid.

It owes its name to its strangely shaped beak, just like that of its African relative, the African gaper. They both have a narrow gap between the two halves of the beak. In English it is also called “openbill stork”. The top half is straight, while the bottom half has a slight twist that causes the hole. The hole can have a length of about 5,80 centimeters in mature specimens. The beak color is a dull green horny color. There are also spots and stripes on the beak that have a red or black color. The legs and toes are a dull, fleshy color.

The only difference between the two sexes is size and beak. The male is slightly larger than the female. Also, the beak of the male is longer and heavier.

In Thailand, it may be the first bird you see flying when you come from the airport. The Indian gaper is one of the few large water birds in Thailand that are not extinct. Since the introduction of a species of snail that lives on rice plants, the population has exploded. Farmers are happy with the bird because they eat the snails that can otherwise damage the crop. A reason for farmers to stop hunting the bird.