The Sand Bird is Born

"This kid keeps talking about jumping into that hole down there. It isn't just unsafe; it's impossible! Huh? YOU can do it?"

- Pianta

The Sand Bird is Born is the fourth episode of Gelato Beach in Super Mario Sunshine. The episode's objective is to collect the eight Red Coins while riding the legendary Sand Bird.

Layout
At some point between the previous episode and this episode, the Sand Bird hatched out of its egg and has flown away. To find the Sand Bird, the player needs to make their way to the top of Gelato Beach. By spraying a Dune Bud in a crevice behind the central tower, the player can cause stairs to appear and reach the upper area, or the player can talk to the Chuckster in front of the mountain to be tossed up to the area. Once at the plaza at the top, the player has to slide down the hill with the coins lining it and jump onto the trampoline platform. Landing in the tower and on the egg will transport the player to the Sand Bird.

The player will land on a small cloud that the Sand Bird will fly through and pick up the player. Seven of the eight Red Coins are placed on the Sand Bird itself and the player has to collect them while avoiding falling off of the Sand Bird. The Sand Bird is constantly moving and flapping its wings as it circles a large tower in the center. As the bird nears the top of the tower, it will flip on its side; as a warning to the player for when it will flip, the Sand Bird will start to rapidly flap its wings. To avoid falling off of the bird, the player has to move against the roll onto a level surface of the bird. The bird will later flip back over and the player can jump from its left wing to reach the tower and collect the final Red Coin and the Shine Sprite.