What is this enemy meant to be?

[CM30]

Apparently it's called a bird in-game, but it always looked way more like some sort of bug or insect to me:

Mayubird

Mayubirds are enemies that appear in Wario Land 4. They mainly appear in the level Arabian Night, and are usually found in large groups. They are blue-colored birds with a big green nose showing two big nostrils, a big red lip in their mouth,...

www.mariowiki.com

So uh, where the hell did the design come from? And what did you think it was when you played Wario Land 4?

 

[Yellow Pyoro]

I thought it was a bat.

 

[Cirta]

I thought they were bats too..
I looked up "Arab Bat" (since they mainly appear in Arabian Nights) and found this which I guess looks somewhat similar with its big nose.

Spoiler: Bat

 

[Really Ilini]

Part of the "thought they were bats" train... after all, birds usually have beaks and not fangs. Though I also though the green part of their face was a pig-like nose, and the two little dots its nostrils. But when you defeat one, they're revealed to be eyes as shown in this sprite sheet!

Funny how pixel art's limitations can result in creative interpretation like that.