Shoebill
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| 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, 150 cm (60in) long bird. The adult is mainly grey, the juveniles are browner. It lives in tropical east Africa, in large swamps from Sudan to Zambia.
Shoebills feed in muddy waters, preying on lungfish and similar fish. They nest on the ground, laying 2 eggs.
The population is estimated at between 5,000 and 8,000 individuals, the majority of which are in Sudan. BirdLife International have classified it as Vulnerable, the main threats being habitat destruction, disturbance and hunting.
The shoebill is one of the bird taxa not easily classified. Traditionally allied with the storks (Ciconiiformes), it was retained there in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy which lumped a massive number of unrelated taxa into their "Ciconiiformes". More recently, the shoebill has been considered to be closer to the pelicans (based on anatomical comparisons; Mayr, 2003) or the herons (based on biochemical evidence; Hagey et al., 2002).
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2006). Balaeniceps rex. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is vulnerable
- Hagey, J. R.; Schteingart, C. D.; Ton-Nu, H.-T. & Hofmann, A. F. (2002): A novel primary bile acid in the Shoebill stork and herons and its phylogenetic significance. Journal of Lipid Research 43(5): 685–690. PDF fulltext
- Mayr, Gerald (2003): The phylogenetic affinities of the Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex). Journal für Ornithologie 144(2): 157-175. [English with German abstract] HTML abstract
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