Fish-eating species instead of plates have very small sharp teeth. Whole life of the Lamellirostral birds is closely connected with water. Most of them procure food in various reservoirs, all species bring up their young on water, and moulting birds can feel themselves in safety only on the water surface. The number of eggs in a clutch often exceeds 5. Hatching may last for 20-30 days, sometimes even longer.
Nestlings hatch out one by one in the course of one day.
Covered with thick down, they can see and hear well, and begin to swim and dive from the very first day of their life. Growing up slowly enough, most fledglings learn to fly at the age of 2 - 2.5 months old. When females sit hatching, males usually begin to moult. As to females, they moult while bringing up their broods. Every autumn Lamellirostrals nesting in the northern zone of the globe migrate to the South.