The reason why we live near wetlands is that there are fish to feed on. By the way, the scientific name balaeniceps rex means “king like a whale’s head.”Ĭertainly, if you look closely at the silhouette of the profile of the shoebill, it resembles a long and thin object such as a shoe or a whale. ※The beak is called “kutibashi” in Japanese, and the stork is called “kounotori”.Īnd the English name shoebill was given from the meaning of “beak like a shoe”.

It is believed that the name is taken from the words “stork with a wide beak”. Why is it called hashibirokou in Japanese? Why is it called “shoebill” in English? In this article, we will introduce the origins of these two.įirst of all, the reason why it is called hashibirokou in Japanese is related to the origin of the characteristic beak and silhouette of the head.

In English, it is called “shoebill”, but in fact, in the case of the Japanese name, it is named “hashibirokou”. It may be difficult to create a good pair because shoebills prefer to be solitary and there is still much unknown about their breeding. However, only two cases have been successful so far. Not only Japanese zoos but also overseas zoos that keep shoebills are trying to breed them. Breeding timing is difficult to determine, and if the timing is missed, the birds may fight and injure each other. 出典： īy the way, the shoebill is a difficult bird to breed artificially. You can understand that shoebill parenting is said to be cruel. It’s hard to be raised while being discriminated against even though we are brothers. The parent bird turns a blind eye and feeds only the first cub. Then, when the first child can grow up safely, he begins to bully the weakened sibling. If you kill them immediately, there will be no substitute for them in the event of an emergency, so they will be raised to the extent that they will not die. At such times, I start raising my second child instead. In some cases, the first child may not grow up safely, such as the death of the first child. The reason is that for the parent bird, the second and subsequent cubs are “insurance”. Why don’t we kill a child born later right away? The second and subsequent children can only be taken care of to such an extent that they do not die. Even when feeding, priority is given to the first born child. In fact, even if a shoebill gives birth to two, it will only raise one that was born first. However, raising shoebill cubs is notoriously cruel. You can feel that they are trying to raise their children with care. The temperature in Africa is quite high, so I also draw water from the beak to cool the eggs so that they do not get too hot. The parent bird doesn’t just guard it until it hatches. Males are also cooperative animals in raising their young.ġ~3 eggs are laid in one laying, and they hatch from the eggs about 1 month later. However, shoebills protect their eggs while the male and female take turns in the nest. I feel that relatively common in raising animals is that males often do not participate in child-rearing and raise only females. Shoebills can only cooperate when raising their young. Even though it is an animal that prefers to be alone, does it affect reproduction? 出典： From their behavior, you can see that they do not approach other animals and are willing to be alone. If you put the shoebills that are actually bred in the same room, they will keep a certain distance from each other. Shoebills basically prefer solitary behavior. Prefers to live in steppes near wetlands with plants such as palpis. Shoebill lives from the central to eastern parts of the African continent. Length:approx 110~140cm weight:approx 4～7kg wing length:approx2m. Pelecaniformes－Balaenicipitidae－Shoebill genus.

Shoebill bird noise