What is Shoebill?
{{Use dmy dates}} {{Speciesbox | name = Shoebill | image = Balaeniceps rex.jpg | image_caption = At the [[Pairi Daiza]] in [[Brugelette]], Belgium | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref>{{Cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=13 August 2018 |access-date=6 May 2020 |title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Shoebill |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22697583/0}}</ref> | genus = Balaeniceps | parent_authority = [[John Gould|Gould]], 1850 | species = rex | authority = [[John Gould|Gould]], 1850 | range_map = Balaeniceps rex distribution.svg | range_map_caption = Shoebill range }} The '''shoebill''', ''Balaeniceps rex'', is also called the whalehead, whale-headed stork, or shoe-billed stork. It is a [[bird]] in the [[Order (biology)|order]] [[Pelecaniformes]]. It is the only living [[species]] in the [[genus]] '''''Balaeniceps''''' and the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Balaenicipitidae]]. The bird looks [[wikt:similar|similar]] to a [[stork]], but can be easily told apart by its famous shoe-shaped [[beak]]. The shoebill lives in [[East Africa]], in parts of [[Sudan]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DR Congo]], [[Zambia]], and the [[Central African Republic]]. The [[International Union for the Conservation of Nature|IUCN]] says that the shoebill is [[Vulnerable species|vulnerable]]. There are thought to be around 5,000{{ndash}}8,000 shoebills in the world, but the [[population]] might be as big as 10,000. The birds are at risk because of [[habitat destruction]] and [[hunting]]. == Taxonomy == The shoebill was first described by [[John Gould]] in 1850. He gave it the [[Binomial nomenclature|scientific name]] (a two-part name given to types of plants and animals) ''Balaeniceps rex''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names|url=https://archive.org/details/helmdictionarysc00jobl|last=Jobling|first=James A.|publisher=Christopher Helm|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4081-3326-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/helmdictionarysc00jobl/page/n66 66],