#Balaeniceps rex

[simplified-birds]

Simplified bird #6 - shoebill

( requested by @sentientraven )

[toniodarling]

WJY DO THEY HAVE THE SAME EXPRESSION I’M WEEPING

[helluvatimes]

A Time To Laugh

The usually angry-looking Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) smiling happily as it surveys the landscape from its lofty perch in the Bird Paradise. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

[ridiculousbirdfaces]

Shoebill Stork by ToddLahman Shoebill Stork (Balaeniceps rex)

[haveyouseenthisbirdpoll]

photo source

[haveyouseenthisanimal-irl]

[ssluggart]

couldnt stop thinking about this post so here

[okapiaconcolor]

Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex), Uganda por flowcomm

[vrgssmncht]

This is the bird whose just a guy I think

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Meet the Shoebill Stork, an Enormous Bird That Looks Like a Muppet

Looking like a mix between a dinosaur and a Jim Henson puppet, the shoebill stork (Balaeniceps rex) is a sight to behold. The large African bird gets its name from its distinct beak, which looks like a shoe. Sometimes called a whale-headed stork, these birds actually aren’t storks at all, but are more closely related to pelicans and herons. These solitary birds are not only fascinating for their prehistoric look but also for their behavior.

Photo: Nazzu/Depositphotos

[proton-wobbler]

Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex)

"Its creepy! And really neat. They make such unsettling sounds and remind me of a dinosaur" "The only reason I know they exist is because an old man in a RV park told me. Also they look bonkers."

Also known as: shoe-billed stork, whalebill, whale-headed stork.

These large wading birds are incredibly solitary, including during their breeding season. While most other herons and waders prefer to form rookeries, shoebill will pair off and continue to raise their chick in isolation from other birds. They can be quite shy and are sensitive to human disturbance while breeding, though once the season has ended these birds are more tolerant of human presence.

They fish in freshwater swamps of central Africa, with their distribution largely dependent on lungfish populations, as those are a preferred prey for the shoebill. Papyrus levels also seem to play a role in their distribution, though they seem to avoid areas where that is the only reed dominating the swamp.

Last fun fact: shoebill will collect water to help cool their eggs down during incubation! They often will fill their bill twice, swallowing the first mouthful, and then will fly back to their nest to pour the water onto their eggs. What an ingenious idea for keeping the kids cool!

Sources:

Image Source: eBird (Jean-Louis Carlo)

[technicontrastron]

For @cathartesauraa because your tags made me smile but also for all my dear mutuals (mwah :*) and everyone else who likes birds <3

[2t2r]

Le bec-en-sabot du Nil ou le digne descendant du vélociraptor

Nouvel article publié sur https://www.2tout2rien.fr/le-bec-en-sabot-du-nil-ou-le-digne-descendant-du-velociraptor/

Le bec-en-sabot du Nil ou le digne descendant du vélociraptor

[espato]

Day 5: Least favorite character ✅

Not for the design or anything else, but the villains in villains' stories are usually the worst

[pinkkittysaw]

Fearless

Based on this request. Clive Rosfield x fem reader Established relationship, fluff 1,220 words

You’ve always been good at putting on a facade, holding your nerve in life or death situations – part of everyday life, really, since joining the Cursebreakers – but as you grow closer to your destination, it’s getting harder to make your legs comply. “Are you sure, Clive?” You slow in your walk, your voice soft, but he still hears.

Clive stops in his stride then, steps in front of you and places one hand on your shoulder and his other warm palm cups your face with a sympathetic smile. “I promise it’ll be fine. Have I ever led you astray before, my darling?”

“No, you haven’t… but I must confess I’m still nervous.”

He presses a kiss to your forehead in his reassuring way – he’s all about soft, sweet touches. “I’ll be with you the whole time, all right?”

You nod, though you know it’s not coming across as a confident one. He smiles, encouragingly, and moves his hand down from your cheek to tilt your chin upwards so he can kiss you chastely on the lips. It’s all too brief, a distraction perhaps, as he then wraps his arm around your shoulders, pulling you tight to his side and continues to lead you down the path into the clearing he’d scouted out for this particular excursion – free of fiends and blight. It would be a nice spot for a romantic picnic, you think… or literally anything else than what Clive has planned.

Once you’ve reached the centre, he slips his arm away and takes a step back, facing you with a look on his face that reminds you of how excited Torgal gets for one of his treats. “Ready, my lady?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

He holds his fingers up to his lips and lets out a long whistle. It’s almost like magic, really, with how quickly the silver white chocobo appears out of nowhere. She charges into the clearing with impressive speed and you quickly sidestep to stand behind Clive’s stature. The chocobo’s head is bowed down low, squawking, until she comes to an abrupt stop a few metres away from you both.

“Hello, Ambrosia.” Clive greets, rubbing her head softly as she bows it to him, now letting out soft, sweet kwehs. “How have you been, girl?”

For the majority of your life, you’ve been terrified of chocobos. It’s an understandable fear – as Clive had repeatedly reassured you upon discovery – considering your past.

You’d made it to your seventh Name Day before being discovered as a Bearer, quickly Branded and sold off to a noble in the countryside who made his gil through agriculture. The days were spent toiling in the fields - turning over the soil, planting seeds, harvesting - and the nights were spent sleeping in the chocobo stables. Unfortunately, your former master treated both his Branded and chocobos with the same amount of affection – forced to share the same dirty water trough and the same buckets full of food scraps.

There was some sort of unspoken bond between you and your fellow Bearers to share everything equally – favours repaid to one another in the field, throwing a couple more vegetables in their basket at the tally count to avoid a lashing. But chocobos have awful sharp claws to go along with their hungry stomachs.

You’re torn from your daydreaming by Clive saying your name, catching the tail-end of him introducing you. There was always a certain glint in his eye when he told you tales of growing up in Rosaria, especially involving Ambrosia. The young Rosfield had raised her from a chick, for Founder’s sake. She’d saved his life at Phoenix Gate, lost her eye in the process… so if there’s a chocobo to like, she’s definitely the one to like.

She draws up to her full height then, flapping her wings and your heart pounds – a flashback to a night where you very nearly lost your fingers to a sharp beak.

“Can you lie down for me?” Clive asks the bird, softly. Ambrosia folds her wings back to her sides, immediately lying down, tilting her head quizzically at her master. “Good girl.”

You remain standing behind the Fire Dominant, using him as a shield, but you know it won’t last much longer as he turns to you.

“Will you say hello?”

You take a breath – you’ve faced far scarier things, you know you have – a morbal, a couerl… Tarja’s wrath when you returned to the Hideaway exhausted and wounded.

“H-hello, Ambrosia.”

The chocobo kwehs loudly, thankfully staying settled on the ground. Clive slips an arm around your waist, squeezing your side.

“She likes you already, you know? I’ve told her a lot about you. She’s a very good listener.”

“Mm.”

“Would you like to touch her?”

“I…” Your hands are trembling at the thought.

“I would never force you, you know that, but you’re doing so well.” Clive grabs your hand, squeezing it. “We could do it together.”

“All right.” You’ve come this far after all, but there is a definite waiver in your voice.

“Ambrosia won’t peck you,” he laces his fingers through yours then. “But we’ll do it like this, so she’d only get me if she did. But you have my solemn vow that she won’t.”

You trust Clive with your very life after all, so you swallow – your throat incredibly dry – and nod. Clive grins, stepping behind you then, wrapping one arm around your stomach to pull you back into his chest. He begins to guide your intertwined hands up to the bird’s side, his thumb rubbing the back of your hand in reassurance the whole time as your fingers brush against her feathers.

She’s incredibly soft, is the first thing you notice. Different from the sharpness you’ve always associated with chocobos. Ambrosia swivels her head to watch, softly kwehing away.

“She’s beautiful, Clive.” Your fingers relax a little into a gentle stroke.

“As are you, my darling.” He murmurs in your ear, pressing a kiss against your temple as he does.

The two of you stand there a little while longer, continuing to stroke Clive’s loyal steed. Ambrosia tucks her head against her chest, seeming to nestle down for a nap. It’s incredibly sweet.

You don’t even notice when Clive moves his hand away, slyly – only realising when you feel his other arm wrap around your waist.

“I’m so proud. You truly continue to astonish me every day with how remarkable you are, and how lucky I am to bear witness to it.”

“No,” you pull your hand away cautiously, but continue to look at Ambrosia. “I’m not-“

He spins you round in his arms then – Ambrosia doesn’t even move, content in her slumber – and puts on a pout. “Beautiful and brave and I will not hear otherwise.”

You can’t refuse that particular face, even when he’s not being entirely serious, and caress his cheek, and stare into his stormy blue eyes. “I wouldn’t be able to do it without you - truly. I love you so much, Clive.”

He sinks into your touch. “I love you too, my darling.” He pulls you even closer, if it was possible, and embraces your lips passionately – your reward – teasing your bottom lip with his teeth. His kisses still leave you almost dizzy and he knows it.

“Now, how about a ride?”

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