Basic facts
COMMON NAME: Shoebills
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Balaeniceps rex
TYPE: Birds
DIET: Carnivore
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 35 years
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN CAPTIVITY: 50 years
SIZE: 3.5 to five feet tall
WEIGHT: 11 pounds (females); 12 pounds (males)
STATUS: Vulnerable
Shoebill Anatomy
Head
Large skull to support the massive bill. A small crest lies at the rear of the head, a feature shoebill shares with the pelicans.
Shoe-shaped bill
Reaches a length of about 8''. The shoebill tends to decapitate its prey using its bill before eating.
Plumage
Blue-gray colored with dark green gloss on its upperparts.
Feet
The long toes distribute shoebill's weight evenly, enabling it to walk over dense aquatic vegetation without floundering.
Habitat
Shoebills have found their cozy spots in the lush wetlands of tropical East Africa, spanning countries like The Congo, Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia. Particularly, these quirky birds tend to inhabit in:
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Freshwater wetlands and swamps with poorly oxygenated water
Though these habitats may seem challenging for us humans, but they're a paradise for our shoebill friends. Shoebills thrive in low-oxygen spots like swamps, marshes, and bogs. Here, their favorite meal, lungfish, surfaces for air in oxygen-depleted waters, and guess who's waiting with open wings? That's right – the shoebill!
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Wetlands rich with papyrus strands
Papyrus strands are like the superstar building material for shoebill
nests, providing the storks with an environment custom made for all
stages of their lives, from nesting and feeding to raising their
offsprings.
Shoebill pair spotted at their nest, one of them is using papyrus strands to build their nest. (Image credit to: Ardea)
Food and hunting habits of shoebills
Fish lover
Shoebills are primarily piscivores, meaning they follow a mainly fish-based diet, but they also savor a variety of aquatic delights, including snakes, lungfish, catfish, and even small crocodiles!
Stealth hunter
Shoebills are the ninjas of the wetland; They lurk in shallow waters, waiting for a perfect moment to strike. Then whoosh! they swiftly lunge and capture unsuspecting fish and aquatic prey with their bills. This unique hunting technique is called 'collapsing'.
Here's a video demonstrating the impressive hunting skills of shoebills.
A female shoebill stork female feeding on a spotted African lungfish (Image credit to: Eric Baccega, Nature Public Library)
Shoebill nature and behaviours
Apart from its prehistoric appearance, shoebill's intriguing behaviors also stood out. Here, we'll venture into some facets of their fascinating behavior:
Solitary birds
Shoebills like their personal distance, keeping a "20 meters and no closer" policy with fellow shoebills, and only form flocks during the breeding season. In a 1 square kilometer area, you'd usually find no more than three shoebill nests.
Communication
Shoebills have a wild playlist of sounds, including a cow-like moo, high-pitched whines, and bill clattering sounds. Even the young shoebills tune in by using a sound resembling human hiccups to call out to their parents when they're hungry.
Ready to groove to some shoebill tunes? Tune in to their unique bill-clattering sound below:
Shoebill nature and behaviours
Sibling smackdown: survival of the strongest
Typically, only one chick from a pair manages to reach adulthood as the largest in the clutch commits fratricide to ensure its own survival. This behavior contributes to the shoebill's vulnerable status.
A newly hatched shoebill chick from Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo (Image credit: Zooborns)
