# Shoebill (*Balaeniceps rex*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/shoebill  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The shoebill (Balaeniceps rex), also called Whalehead or Whale-headed stork, is a living bird in the family Balaenicipitidae of the order Pelecaniformes. It is a medium-sized bird by adult body mass, with a representative adult mass of 5.9 kg and reported values from 5.13 to 6.7 kg. A sedentary, terrestrial-foraging aquatic predator of wetland habitat, it eats foods including marbled lungfish, west african lungfish, tilapia, clarias, polypterus senegalus, snail and carrion. The shoebill is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, a threatened category, and lays a clutch of 2 eggs once a year with an incubation period of 30 days.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 5.13 kg – 6.7 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 35.9 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 36 years |
| Main food | anseriformes, anura, carrion, clarias, marbled lungfish, polypterus senegalus and 7 more |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 30 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1.7 – 2 |
| Age at maturity | 2.98 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Vulnerable (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Pelecaniformes
- family: Balaenicipitidae
- genus: Balaeniceps
- species: *Balaeniceps rex* Gould, 1850

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the shoebill?

The shoebill is a bird in the family Balaenicipitidae, order Pelecaniformes. It is also called Whalehead or Whale-headed stork.

### How heavy is a shoebill?

An adult Shoebill has a representative body mass of 5.9 kg, with reported values from 5.13 to 6.7 kg. This places it in the medium size class.

### What does the shoebill eat?

The shoebill is a carnivorous aquatic predator. Its main foods include marbled lungfish, west african lungfish, tilapia, clarias, siluriformes, polypterus senegalus, anura, varanus niloticus, testudines, rodent, anseriformes, snail and carrion.

### Is the shoebill endangered?

The shoebill is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.

### How long does a shoebill live?

The shoebill has a lifespan of up to 36 years.

### How many eggs does a shoebill lay?

The shoebill lays a clutch of 2 eggs, with 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 30 days.

### Who named the shoebill?

The shoebill, Balaeniceps rex, was named by Gould, 1850.

### Where does the shoebill live?

The shoebill lives in wetland habitat and is sedentary. Its geographic range covers 1,282,000 km².

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/shoebill