Shoebill
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| Shoebill | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| ハシビロコウ | |||
| Character Data | |||
| AKA | Whalehead, Shoe-Billed Stork
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| Romaji | Hashibirokō
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| Debut | Kemono Friends (2015 Game) | ||
| Animal Data | |||
| Scientific Name | Balaeniceps rex
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| Distribution | Central Africa
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| Diet | Carnivore
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| Avg. Lifespan | 36 years
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| Read More | Shoebill
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| Conservation | 
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| Shoebill | Anime | Festival | Pavilion | KF3 (V2) | Kingdom | Nexon Game | Stage Play | Gallery |
Shoebill is a bird Friend who first appeared in the original Kemono Friends mobile game, and would later have a minor role in the first season of the Kemono Friends anime.
Appearance
Shoebill wears a somewhat militaristic uniform that is mostly gray with black on the fringes. Her main uniform consists of shorts, a shirt with two breast pockets, and a white tie. She also wears gray leggings, gray sleeved gloves, black fingerless gloves on her hands, and black boots. Her hair is the same shade of gray as her clothing and covers part of her yellow eyes, making them look slanted. Her hair also has two other features that resemble a real shoebill—a small tuft of hair in the back and a section in the front that is tied and colored yellow to resemble a shoebill beak. She has large wings on her head that transition from gray to black at the tips and a shoebill tail.
Series Appearances
| Media | Role | First Appearance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Nexon Game | ↪ Minor playable character | |
| 2017 | Kemono Friends (2017 Anime) | ↪ Supporting character | Episode 6: Plains |
| 2019 | Chokotto Anime Kemono Friends 3 | Recurring character | Episode 12 |
| 2019 | Kemono Friends 3 | ↪ Minor playable character | |
| 2022 | Kemono Friends Kingdom | ↪ Minor playable character | |
In Real Life
Indigenous to the wetlands of eastern-central Africa, the shoebill—also known as the whalehead or whalebill—is a large wading bird species named for its massive bill, said to resemble a shape of a shoe. Despite visual similarities to storks of the order Ciconiiformes, among which the shoebills were formerly classified—resulting in the common names of "shoebill stork" and "whalehead stork", among others—modern investigations have revealed that the closest relatives of the shoebill are the Pelecaniformes: the pelicans, herons, and hamerkop. Within Pelecaniformes, the shoebill forms its own genus, Balaeniceps (from Latin balaena, meaning 'whale', and the suffix -ceps meaning 'headed'), of which it is the only extant member. Adult shoebills typically fall between 43 and 55 inches (110 to 140 cm) in height, and average out at 11 to 12 lb in weight (5.6 to 4.9 kg). Being that they are large birds, their wingspans can range from an impressive 7 ft 7 in to 8 ft 6 in (230 to 260 cm) and are built for soaring. The shoebill's eyes are typically a striking yellow, and the waterproof plumage of adult birds is often described as being blue-grey in color, with darker grey feathers in areas such as the wings. Its huge bill—the third longest among all known extant birds, at a great 7.4 to 9.4 in (18.8 to 24 cm)—may be described as anywhere from gold to yellow to pinkish in hue. They also boast similarly large feet, which may aid in their water-wading lifestyle, potentially offering them improved balance and sufficient area distribution to be able to stand on floating vegetation.
Shoebills are hunters known for their slow, methodical movements and calm demeanor, being able to remain stock-still for long periods of time as they wait for prey to enter their striking range. These birds use their massive bills to capture and dispatch prey, with sharp edges and hooked tips proving formidable weapons. The shoebill is best known as a piscivore, or fish eater, often displaying a preference for hunting lungfish and relatives, catfish, and other fish often found in muddy waters. Its attraction to sites where the water is poorly oxygenated may be due to the pressure this puts onto local lungfish, forcing them to surface for air more frequently and as such making them more frequently vulnerable to predation. Despite their association with fish, shoebills are capable predators of just about anything smaller than itself; frogs, Nile monitor lizards, watersnakes, and even baby crocodiles are commonly taken, and instances of predation on small turtles and waterfowl, rodents, and snails have been known to occur. Shoebill strikes are reported to be successful more often than not, with around 60% of observed strikes yielding prey. They are highly reliant on their vision for hunting, apparently forgoing use of senses that other, similar wading hunters rely on strongly, such as the sensing of movement through touch.
Shoebills rarely vocalize, potentially exerting croaks, whines, and low-pitched tones when they do, but they are better known for 'bill-clattering', in which the bill is rapidly clacked to produce a loud clattering sound sometimes compared to automated gunfire. These birds are known to be generally docile around humans, making them fairly suited to zoo environments, though successful breeding is rare. Their size, demeanor and relative intelligence makes them popular for birdwatchers and zoo patrons alike to observe.
Trivia
Friend Trivia
Official concept art shows the look of Shoebill's eyes beneath her bangs. Photo taken by a Japanese fan at the photo area of the exhibition "Kemono Friends World", 2019.
- Official concept art of Shoebill reveals large eyes beneath her bangs.
References
- Mayr, Gerald (2003). "The phylogenetic affinities of the Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex)" (PDF). Journal für Ornithologie. doi:10.1046/j.1439-0361.2003.03002.x.
- Mikhailov, Konstantin E. (1995). "Eggshell structure in the shoebill and pelecaniform birds: comparison with hamerkop, herons, ibises and storks". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 73 (9): 1754–70. doi:10.1139/z95-207.
- Hackett, SJ; Kimball, RT; Reddy, S; Bowie, RC; Braun, EL; Braun, MJ; Chojnowski, JL; Cox, WA; Han, KL; et al. (2008). "A phylogenomic study of birds reveals their evolutionary history" (PDF). Science. 320 (5884): 1763–8. PMID 18583609. doi:10.1126/science.1157704.
- Hancock & Kushan, Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World. Princeton University Press (1992), ISBN 978-0-12-322730-0.