Juveniles resemble adults, but lack throat hackles, and sometimes have a pink fleshy gape. "Mouths would gape", they said. The mouth is oblique with a very wide gape. The mouth has a very large gape. The bill was large, rather slender, and had a hooked tip with a wide gape. Less mass for each muscle allowed greater elasticity and less resistance to a wide gape. They have large vibrissae feathers around the gape. The bill length from the gape measures around . Their feathers lack barbules and aftershafts, and they have large vibrissae around the gape. And Gates still gape to loose, on certain nights. Its bill averages in length from the gape. Adults usually have a small white spot at the base of the gape. These changes help to compensate for an increased gape. The culmen measures from , while the bill from the gape measures around .