Saddle-billed stork | |
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Adult male in Kruger National Park, South Africa | |
Female in Masai Mara, Kenya – irises are yellow | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Ciconiiformes |
Family: | Ciconiidae |
Genus: | Ephippiorhynchus |
Species: | E. senegalensis
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Binomial name | |
Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis (Shaw, 1800)
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Synonyms[2] | |
Mycteria senegalensis Shaw, 1800 |
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.