Shoebill

The Shoebill, the only living species of the Balaenicipitidae family in the Pelecaniformes order, is an intriguing bird with a distinctive sharp hook at the tip of its upper beak, a furrow under the nasal openings, an ossified septum, and a vestigial or entirely absent expansor secundariorum muscle. Despite traditionally being associated with storks (Ciconiiformes), it is now more accurately aligned with pelicans and related species. Its nearest relative is the hamerkop, which is part of a different family. This unique family once included other genera like the possible Balaeniceps member Goliathia and the genus Paludiavis, which are both now extinct.

Species Categories

African & Green Broadbills African & New World Parrots African Barbets Albatrosses Anhingas, Darters Auks Austral Storm Petrels Barn Owls Bee-eaters Bulbuls Buntings Bushshrikes Bustards Buttonquail Caracaras, Falcons Cettia Bush Warblers & Allies Chats, Old World Flycatchers Cisticolas & Allies Cormorants, Shags Coursers, Pratincoles Cranes Crombecs, African Warblers Crows, Jays Cuckoos Cuckooshrikes Dapple-throat & Allies Drongos Ducks, Geese, Swans Egyptian Plover Fairy Flycatchers Figbirds, Orioles, Turnagra Finches, Euphonias Finfoots Flamingos Flufftails Frigatebirds Gannets, Boobies Grassbirds & Allies Grebes Ground Babblers Ground Hornbills Guineafowl Gulls, Terns, Skimmers Hamerkop Herons, Bitterns Honeyguides Hoopoes Hornbills Hylias Hyliotas Ibises, Spoonbills Indigobirds, Whydahs Jacanas Kingfishers Kites, Hawks, Eagles Larks Laughingthrushes & Allies Leaf Warblers & Allies Monarchs Mousebirds New World Quail Nicators Nightjars Northern Storm Petrels Old World Parrots Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches Ospreys Ostriches Owls Oxpeckers Oystercatchers Painted-snipes Pelicans Penduline Tits Penguins Petrels, Shearwaters, Diving Petrels Pheasants & Allies Pigeons, Doves Pittas Plovers Rails, Crakes & Coots Reed Warblers & Allies Rockfowl Rollers Sandgrouse Sandpipers, Snipes Secretarybird Shoebill Shrikes Skuas Starlings, Rhabdornis Stilts, Avocets Stone-curlews, Thick-knees Storks Streaked Scrub Warbler Sunbirds Swallows, Martins Swifts Sylviid Babblers Thrushes Tits, Chickadees Treecreepers Trogons Tropicbirds Turacos Typical Broadbills Vangas & Allies Wagtails, Pipits Wattle-eyes, Batises Waxbills, Munias & Allies Weavers, Widowbirds White-eyes Wood Hoopoes Woodpeckers Yellow Flycatchers

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What Our Birders Say

Carrie

Makes you want to spot birds more

I think this app is fun. It makes you want to spot birds more so I guess in a way it encourages you to get out and about instead of sitting in front of the TV.

EandB17

Terrific App for Birders

Downloaded Birda around the time my interest in birding was sparked, and it has been a terrific app to help me (1) share my experience, (2) document my sightings, and (3) learn more about birds in general. That said, I also believe Birda is a fantastic app for birders of all experience levels. Great community!

Erna M

I really like Birda

I really like Birda. I also use other birding apps and have Birda with E-bird going at the same time.

Leonie

We've been waiting for an App like this

Excellent! We've been waiting for an app like this! Thank you! It would be nice if you could assign additional birds to sessions later!

Birdafan

Ideal Birdwatch Companion

Simply adds to the enjoyment of my birdwatching and helps me record what I’ve seen.

Bryan C

Clean and easy to use

Really enjoying this app, it's clean and easy to use. I love the ease of being able to add those one-off birds without starting a whole checklist. I also like the social aspect, like the parts of my Facebook I like, without the ads and junk, just birds. Can't wait to see it become more populated.

Louise L

Easy to use and accurate

Love this app. It is easy to use and accurate, Their backup communication is really good. I noted a missing species. All through the process, I was kept informed about the progress in correcting the information. I now have the corrected, updated version. 😁 Thanks!

Emcil24

A Friendly Place

I love using the bird app, I have a pretty good knowledge of birds. But I do have some gaps in it, so it’s nice to have a safe space to check on a sighting to confirm the species. It’s really enjoyable and I love the badges you can collect. It’s like a real life Pokémon go.

Nick S

Work together with community

Been loving using this app to log my bird sightings and work together with community members to identify different birds. I've already learned a lot since I started about a month ago!

778

Great bird recording

For a while I’ve been trying to find an app to easily record bird lists and day out and struggled to find one that I like. Birda is great for this, straightforward and a great community!

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