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They’re distributed in freshwater swamps of central tropical Africa. Shoebills are often sighted in areas of flood plain interspersed with undisturbed papyrus and reedbeds. The bird swiftly pounces on its target, bill-first, decapitating its catch with the sharp edges of its bill and swallowing it whole. They’re great fishers shoebills stand motionless for hours in swampy water to steak out their unsuspecting prey. Shoebills also eat eels, catfish, lizards, snakes, and baby crocodiles. The shoebill’s favorite meal is air-breathing, Eel-like fish called a lungfish. All shoebills in these zoos were either born there or were legally collected from the wild.
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Currently, only a handful of zoos open to the public have shoebills which include the Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic, Pairi Daiza in Belgium, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the Dallas World Aquarium and UWEC zoo in Entebbe. At least only two chicks have hatched outside the shoebill’s dwelling zone in the last hundred years. Always keep a distance when trying to get that perfect shot. It is by no means a safe bird for a stranger ignorant of its ways to approach. Selfie, anyone? One has to be careful, for it can also inflict a very powerful bite. Complemented by their golden eyes, the posture affects a compelling death stare. Shoebills can stand virtually motionless for hours with their bills held down against their necks. The fact is that all storks also use their own shit to cool off. That’s why taxonomists originally placed it within the family of storks. Apparently, the practice is effective in lowering their body temperature. Shoebills have a repulsive habit of shitting on their legs. The shoebill has other exciting names boat-bill, bog-bird, lesser lechwe-eater (referring to the shoebill’s alleged taste for lechwe, or aquatic antelope) and Abu markub, or “father of a slipper” in Arabic. Similarly it is in the same group as pelicans. After staring at their telescopes and watching the bird for countless hours. They are now classified as the grotesque bird in the Pelecaniformes group. Traditionally classified with storks (Ciconiiformes) and retained there, but recently taxonomists have awakened the debate. Or, ‘Whale-head’ from the Latin words Balaena “whale” and caput “head,” abbreviated to -ceps in compound words. John Gould, an English ornithologist, described it in 1850, giving it the name Balaeniceps rex. After skins and eventually live specimens were brought to Europe. Their bill, which takes up most of their face, looks like a huge Dutch wooden clog.Īccording to Wikipedia, the shoebill is known to both ancient Egyptians and Arabs but was not classified until the 19th century. They grow 4 to 5 feet tall, have bluish-gray plumage, and an 8-plus-foot wingspan. You really can’t mistaken the shoebill for any other bird. They are found around the Mabamba Bay marshes on Lake Victoria shores in Entebbe. The best place to view the shoebill is in the vast wetlands of the Nile in Uganda. It stalks along the swampy Nile River and Lake Victoria shores, snatching up prey with its unique, immediately recognizable bills. The shoebill is one of the five most desirable birds in Africa by birdwatchers. That stalks the marshes of tropical East Africa in South Sudan and Uganda. The Shoebill (aka Whale-head, aka shoe-billed Stork, aka Balaeniceps rex) is a large wading waterbird. Bird Watching in Uganda Impenetrable Forest.3 Days corporate Getaway to Murchison Falls.
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