The balæniceps is met with only in or near water, but it prefers
marshes to rivers. It is abundant upon the banks of the Nile only
during the hot season which precedes the rains and when the entire
interior is dried up. During the rest of the year it inhabits natural
ponds and swamps, where the shallow water covers vast areas and
presents numerous small islands, of easier access than the banks of
the Nile, which always slope more or less abruptly into deep water. In
such localities it is met with in pairs or in flocks of a hundred or
more, seeking its food with tireless energy, or else standing
immovable upon one leg, the neck curved and the head resting upon the
shoulder. When disturbed, the birds fly just above the surface of the
water and stop at a short distance. But when they are startled by the
firing of a gun, they ascend to a great height, fly around in a circle
and hover for a short time, and then descend upon the loftiest trees,
where they remain until the enemy has gone.

Water turtles, fish, frogs and lizards form the basis of their food.
According to Petherick, they do not disdain dead animals, whose
carcasses they disembowel with their powerful hooked beak. They pass
the night upon the ground, upon trees and upon high rocks. As regards
nest-making and egg-laying, opinions are most contradictory. According
to Verreaux, the balæniceps builds its nest of earth, vegetable
debris, reeds, grass, etc., upon large trees. The female lays two eggs
similar to those of the adjutant. It is quite difficult to reconcile
this opinion with that of Petherick, who expresses himself as follows:
"The balæniceps lays in July and August, and chooses for that purpose
the tall reeds or grasses that border the water or some small and
slightly elevated island. They dig a hole in the ground, and the
female deposits her eggs therein. I have found as many as twelve eggs