whalehead

English

Noun

whalehead (plural whaleheads)

1. Synonym of shoebill (wading bird)
   • 1999, Christ Stuart, Birds of Africa: From Seabirds to Seed-eaters, page 40:

     The shoebill, whalehead or boatbill, as it is sometimes called, is one of Africa's strangest and rarest endemics.

2. A type of sand dune in North Carolina.
   • 1912, William Bullock Clark, The Coastal Plain of North Carolina, page 32:

     The strong north winds pile the sands up into great barchannes or medanoes, crescentic sand dunes known locally as whaleheads, which are moving steadily southward.

   • 2013, Renee Wright, Explorer's Guide North Carolina's Outer Banks & Crystal Coast:

     Huge dunes, called “whaleheads” by locals, developed on Hatteras during this time and swept across the island.