Shoebill

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

Shoebill Conservation status: Lower risk (nt)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Balaenicipitidae Genus: Balaeniceps Species: B. rex
Binomial name
Balaeniceps rex Gould, 1850

The Shoebill or Whalehead (Balaeniceps rex) is a very large bird related to the storks. It derives its name from its massive shoe-shaped bill.

The Shoebill is a large (60in) grey bird, although the juveniles are browner. It lives in tropical east Africa, especially Uganda. It nests on the ground, laying 2 eggs.

Shoebills feed in muddy waters, preying on lungfish and similar fish.

The Shoebill makes up one of the families in the order Ciconiiformes, which also includes other wading bird groups:

Ciconiiformes

• Ardeidae herons and bitterns
• Cochlearidae: Boatbill
• Balaenicipitidae Shoebill
• Scopidae Hammerkop
• Ciconiidae: storks
• Threskiornithidae ibises and spoonbills
• Phoenicopteridae flamingosfr:Bec-en-sabot

nl:Schoenbekooievaar

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) Shoebill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoebill) version history (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shoebill&action=history) GNU Free Documentation Lizenz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License) CC-by-sa (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/)

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