NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Asian Openbill

Anastomus oscitans (Boddaert, 1783)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Asian openbill (Anastomus oscitans), Pearaing Biodiversity Conservation Center, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image source
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Open encyclopedia reference

The Asian openbill or Asian openbill stork (Anastomus oscitans) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. This distinctive stork is found mainly in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is greyish or white with glossy black wings and tail. Adults have a gap between the arched upper mandible and recurved lower mandible which is thought to be an adaptation that aids in the handling of snails, their main prey. Young birds are born without this gap. Although resident within their range, they make long distance movements in response to weather and food availability.

Wikipedia contributors, Asian openbill; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:50:33.807341+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name: Anastomus oscitans (Boddaert, 1783)
Name authority: (Boddaert, 1783)
Common name: Asian Openbill
Rank: species
Accepted status: accepted
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Ciconiiformes
Family: Ciconiidae
Genus: Anastomus
Extinction status: Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
kingdomAnimalia
phylumChordata
subphylumVertebrata
infraphylumGnathostomata
parvphylumOsteichthyes
megaclassTetrapoda
classAves
orderCiconiiformes
familyCiconiidae Sundevall, 1836
genusAnastomus Bonnaterre, 1791
speciesAnastomus oscitans (Boddaert, 1783)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Anastomus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Species	Classification	Source status
African OpenbillAnastomus lamelligerus Temminck, 1823	CiconiidaeChordata	Accepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 18 records assigned to Ciconiidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded name	Source status
Ardea oscitans Boddaert, 1783 Boddaert, 1783	synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Southern Asia

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174904 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:DH8Q. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.