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

Chudbond

Love Birda

I love this app. It really encourages you to log your sightings and the community is friendly and helpful.

Hip An

Fantastic

Really enjoying Birda where I live i have a lot of Red kites really hard to photograph but I can video are you planning some place on the app where us Birda can post vids🦉🦅

Unbridled Discoveries

Great app for bird lovers

I love this app! It’s a wonderful way to track birding sessions, and also connect you with fellow birders. I also really like the unidentified bird section, it’s a great community tool to help figure out what a never-before-seen bird is!

SuperOliviaGirl

Really great app

It’s easy to use and it’s fun to log the birds you notice on a walk or just in your garden. There’s a option to record the birds you see in a session which is really nice. Good excuse to stop for a while and just watch birds. I am also enjoying the information part where you can find out fact about birds from all over the world.

Alex J

Friendly and helps to identify birds

Great birding app, good for logging your sightings, also has nice species guide. I'm enjoying the social aspect more than I expected, everyone seems friendly and helps to identify unknown birds. Good mix of newbies and experienced users.

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.

Nicole

Gets me outdoors more

I'm still loving this app. I use it most days & gets me outdoors more. Enjoying watching others progress and photo's, it's improved my wellbeing.... I love this app! I can keep a record of sightings and see what others have seen too.

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!

Paul F