Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis

Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, Photo: Michael Lahanas

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Cladus: Aequornithes
Ordo: Ciconiiformes

Familia: Ciconiidae
Genus: Ephippiorhynchus
Species: Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis
Name

Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis (Shaw, 1800)
Synonymy

Mycteria senegalensis (protonym)

References

Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 5: 35, pl.3

Vernacular names
čeština: Čáp sedlatý
dansk: Saddelnæb
Deutsch: Sattelstorch
English: Saddle-billed Stork
español: Jabirú africano
suomi: Afrikansatulahaikara
français: Jabiru du Sénégal
galego: Xabirú africano
italiano: Becco a sella africano
日本語: クラハシコウ
Nederlands: Zadelbekooievaar
polski: Żabiru afrykański
svenska: Sadelnäbbstork

The saddle-billed stork or saddlebill (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis) is a large wading bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. It is a widespread species which is a resident breeder in sub-Saharan Africa from Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya south to South Africa, and in The Gambia, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Chad in west Africa.[3] It is considered endangered in South Africa.

It is a close relative of the widespread Asian and Australian black-necked stork, the only other member of the genus Ephippiorhynchus.

Description
In flight

This is a huge bird that regularly attains a height of 145 to 150 cm (4 ft 9 in to 4 ft 11 in), a length of 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) and a 2.4 to 2.7 m (7 ft 10 in to 8 ft 10 in) wingspan.[4] While heights published have been in the aforementioned narrow range, reportedly adult saddle-billed storks in captivity can attain a height of up to 150 to 180 cm (4 ft 11 in to 5 ft 11 in).[5] The male of the species is larger and heavier than the female, with a range of 5.1–7.52 kg (11.2–16.6 lb), with a mean mass of 6.38 kg (14.1 lb). The female is usually between 5 and 6.84 kg (11.0 and 15.1 lb), with a mean mass of 5.95 kg (13.1 lb).[6] Among the large storks, the saddle-billed broadly overlap in size with the two larger Leptoptilos and the Jabiru stork but possesses a longer, more slender neck and slightly longer legs than the other largest storks, so the saddle-billed is likely to be the tallest extant species of the family.[7] Its extremely long legs measure up to 36.5 cm (14.4 in)) in tarsus length. The long bill measures from 27.3 to 36 cm (10.7 to 14.2 in).[7] The sexes can be readily distinguished by the golden yellow irises of the female and the brown irises and dangling yellow wattles of the male. It is therefore one of the few storks to display sexual dimorphism in colour.[8]

It is spectacularly plumaged; both the female and male appear identical when perched but the female shows much more white in the primaries in flight. The head, neck, back, wings, and tail are iridescent black, with the rest of the body and the primary flight feathers being white. Juveniles are browner grey in plumage. The massive bill is red with a black band and a yellow frontal shield (the "saddle"). The legs and feet are black with pink hocks. On the chest is a bare red patch of skin, whose colour darkens during breeding season.[9]
Behaviour

They are silent except for bill-clattering at the nest. Like most storks, these fly with the neck outstretched, not retracted like a heron; in flight, the large heavy bill is kept drooping somewhat below belly height, giving these birds a very unusual appearance to those who see them for the first time. To experienced birdwatchers on the other hand, this makes them easily recognizable even if seen from a distance. It has been suggested that due to the large size and unusual appearance in flight, this species is the basis for the "big bird" and kongamato cryptids.
Habitat

At the continental scale, saddle-billed storks preferred protected areas that have a higher extent of open water compared to areas without the storks.[3] Some of these trends may, however, be due to a bias in coverage by ornithologists of safer areas such as national parks and protected swamps that afford easier accessibility and comforts.
Breeding

The saddle-billed stork breeds in forested waterlands and other floodlands in tropical lowland. It builds a large, deep stick nest in a tree, laying one to five (typically two or three)[10] white eggs weighing about 146 g (5.1 oz) each. It does not form breeding colonies, and is usually found alone or in pairs. The incubation period is 30–35 days, with another 70–100 days before the chicks fledge, with the young often remaining in the parents' territory until the next breeding season.[11]
Food and feeding
Fishing in Botswana

The saddle-billed stork, like most of its relatives, feeds mainly on fish, frogs and crabs, but also on large water beetles, small mammals, birds and reptiles. The birds move in a deliberate and stately manner as they hunt, in a similar way to the larger herons.[11]
Relation to Ancient Egyptian culture

This bird is represented in an Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph (Gardiner G29) that had the phonetic value "bꜣ":
G29

[12] Its description is often erroneously given as "jabiru", which is a South American relative. The Third Dynasty pharaoh Khaba incorporated this hieroglyph in his name (Jiménez Serrano 2002). The first depictions of the species come from depictions during the Late Predynastic Period (pre-3150 B.C.), and trends in depictions have been useful to deduce a decline in the species' range from ancient Egypt likely due to intensifying urbanisation and an increasingly arid climate (c. 2686–2181 BC).[13][14][3]
References

BirdLife International (2016). "Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22697706A93631820. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22697706A93631820.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
Elliott, A.; Garcia, E.F.J. & Boesman, P. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). "Saddlebill (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
Gula, Jonah; Weckerly, Floyd; Sundar, K.S. Gopi (2019). "The first range-wide assessment of Saddle-billed Stork Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis distribution". Ostrich. 90 (4): 347–357. doi:10.2989/00306525.2019.1696900.
Borrow, N., & Demey, R. (2013). Birds of Senegal and the Gambia. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Womack, D. Dallas Zoo, AZA Saddle-billed Stork SSP Coordinator and Regional Studbook Keeper.
Dunning, John B. Jr., ed. (2008). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses (2nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-6444-5.
Hancock & Kushan, Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World. Princeton University Press (1992), ISBN 978-0-12-322730-0
Elliott, A., E. F. J. Garcia, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
"San Diego Zoo file" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-01-13. (477 KB)
Womack, Jocelyn. ""Saddle-billed stork species fact sheet"" (PDF). ASAG. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
Bouglouan, Nicole. "Saddle-billed stork". oiseaux-birds.com. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
Allen, James (2014). Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (3 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 480. ISBN 978-1-107-66328-2.
Janák, J. (2011). "Spotting the Akh: the presence of the Northern Bald Ibis in ancient Egypt and its early decline". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 46: 17–31. JSTOR 41431566.

Janák, J. (2014). "Saddle-billed Stork (ba-bird)". UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 1. UCLA. pp. 1–8.