Exciting story of the life of a snail
September 30, 20243 Mins Read
Also called snail shell, snail bird. Apart from this, it has some other regional names in Bangladesh. English name is Asian open-bill (Asian open-bill). The scientific name is Anastomus oscitans . Body size is 99 cm. I myself have recorded the measurements and weights of these birds many times. Feet, lips, tongue, where there is a little gap in the middle of the lips, I also recorded the height from the ground to his head while standing by measuring that gap.

Snail breaking

Snail lips are in my collection. Its height when standing on the ground is about the same as its body size. The face of this big bird has a little stupid look, as well as an innocent look. From the crown of the head through the neck-neck-chest-belly to the base of the tail is white. The underside of the tail and the upper part of the tail of this bird are black. Most of the wings in flight are white, only the tip is black.

However, depending on the season, this white color becomes a little cloudy or pale, similarly, the black color also becomes a little faded. Their lips are reddish-brown. This color also changes with the seasons. Legs reddish-yellow. Just as they can rest by lifting one of their long legs and leaning on the other, they can also sit comfortably with their legs folded beautifully.

Snails are primarily wetland birds. However, their relatives like Madantak, Rangila Buck and Hargila (Hargila does not seem to exist in present-day Bangladesh) also graze on dry land to eat insects including frogs and grasshoppers. In their stomachs I have many times seen small snails, leeches and water snakes. Their food list includes fish, crabs, snail eggs, turtle hatchlings. When they walk in flocks in the swamps looking for food, it looks very beautiful.

They play a wonderful 'lip clap' with both lips to scare off other birds. The sound is loud. They clap their lips more in joy and excitement. Their lips are quite strong and sharp, but they do not know how to use these lips for self-defense.

Snails nest more in warm months. I have seen nesting even in the senior month. The last nest I saw of the snail was in autumn 1992, in a tamarind tree outside the Sundarbans. However, in 2007, I saw a colony nest of about 200 birds in Shakhidar Para village of Kshetlal Upazila of Joypurhat district. There was a pair of birds in 1992. However, several pairs of birds nest together in one tree, and also in different trees.

Both decorate the house. The man brings more material. The girl sits on the tree, arranges the materials. The main ingredients are dry or raw stems of plants, dry straw. Nesting takes 7-9 days. It takes 2-3 days to find the preferred place. These birds live in groups, there are leaders. The leader runs the team. Snails have 3 eggs. 2 or 4 are also available. Egg color is cloudy white. Both take turns to give it to the egg. Eggs hatch in 30-33 days. Both feed the children. Babies learn to fly in 50-60 days. Since then he has been flying with his parents.

Many young live in large flocks during the winter. It is possible to distinguish children by their silly looks and colors. The older birds fly away at the sound of the gunshots, but many of the young sit in the flock, unaware of the danger. Children are more at risk because of this lack of understanding. In the month of Baisakh, 1975, I saw a flock of about six thousand snails flying over my village. The description I gave at the beginning of the writing is my village. The year was 1964.

Snail breakage is also present in Bangladesh. It can be seen almost all over the country including Sundarbans, Sylhet, Chittagong. But the number has decreased a lot. Large flocks are not easily noticed. There is no shortage of nesting trees or food. There is a lack of security. However, since the last 3/4 years, the number and security of Samukbhangas has increased. They have large colonies in Pachamaria village of Puthia upazila of Rajshahi district and Hetalia village of Bhandaria upazila of Pirojpur district even in 2008.

A large flock was last seen on the Tripura border in Feni district. Rezveen Akhter Lipi, daughter of Pabna, a brilliant student of wildlife at Dhaka University, is currently conducting valuable research on snails (this was in 2008). His field is basically Shakhidar neighborhood of Joypurhat. A colony was growing near his home, but it was destroyed by human tyranny.