The shoebill stork birds are described as statue-like bird species due to the fact that they are fond of standing and staying still for a long period of time. This bird can be identified because of its distinctive features from other bird for example its feathers are medium blue-grey and its tail is the same color as its wings and when it flies, its legs extend straight back far past its tail, and when you view it at a far distance especially while it’s in its habitat, its size and wingspan make it appear different from other birds. As it flies, its neck draws back in other words, it’s retracted. The shoebill is a slow bird that it does not even fly for more than 500 meters depending on each shoebill, their distance of flying ranges between 100m-500m especially due to its large nature and their flapping rate is about 150 flap per minute. These birds are found in Tropical East Africa around the large fresh water swamps. But however, due to the fact that the adult shoebill are always grey and their young ones always brown, this genetic evidence classifies them among the pelecaniformes. They are one of the five most desired birds in Africa and due to the fact that it’s a stork-like bird, it has been classified among the ciconiiformes as a result of its morphology. The shoebill stork also known as whalehead is a long-legged, large stork-like bird that derives its name from its large sized shoe shaped bill. What to Wear for your Gorilla trek in Rwanda.10 Day Rwanda and Uganda Gorilla Safari.© 2016 Tune In to November 2016 Narrator: Mary McCannĬURWOOD: Swoop on over to our website, LOE.org, for some pictures. XC320901 ambient sounds recorded by James Bradley, Kenyan Swamp setting.īirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler. Shoebills are notably less numerous than pelicans, though, with only 8,000 surviving in the wild.īird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. But DNA analysis showed that it’s more closely related to pelicans - another group of birds whose oversized beaks are truly awe-inspiring. The Shoebill’s physical resemblance to the stork gave it its early name, the Whale-headed Stork. Shoebills resemble storks, but are more closely related to pelicans. Which Shoebills hunt in the shallows, often standing completely motionless before they strike.
The edges are sharp enough to behead its prey, which include catfish with hard bony heads as well as lungfish, snakes, and even baby crocodiles.
But although the Shoebill looks like it walked right out of a cartoon, its beak is no joke. So named because that comically large bill is, yellow-orange, and shaped like an oversized Dutch wooden shoe. Meet the Shoebill, a bird unknown to science until the 19th Century, and the only living member of its family. But instead of the stork’s long, tapered bill, substitute a prodigious, stout bill that’s hooked at the tip – and that gives this bird its name. Picture a massive, blue-gray stork, standing up to five feet tall on long, gray legs. MCCANN: Deep in the dense, remote swamps of Central Africa lives one of the most peculiar looking of all birds. And periodically, as Mary McCann points out in today's BirdNote®, there are birds that are – well – downright weird. CURWOOD: Birds come in all shapes and sizes, with feathers drab or colorful – and voices melodious or grating.
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