Shoebills can stay motionless for hours, so when a hapless lungfish comes up for air, it might not notice this lethal prehistoric-looking bird looming until it’s too late. They also have long, thin legs with large feet that are ideal for walking on the vegetation in the freshwater marshes and swamps they inhabit in East Africa, from Ethiopia and South Sudan to Zambia. Reaching up to five feet tall with an eight-foot wingspan, shoebills have yellow eyes, gray feathers, white bellies, and a small feathered crest on the back of their heads. It even snacks on baby crocodiles and Nile monitor lizards.Īt first glance, shoebills don’t seem like they could be ambush predators. Its specialized bill allows the shoebill to grab large prey, including lungfish, tilapia, eels, and snakes. Tan with brown splotches, it's five inches wide and has sharp edges and a sharp hook on the end. What makes the aptly named shoebill so unique is its foot-long bill that resembles a Dutch clog. It is important to work to preserve shoebill birds and their habitats so that shoebills can continue thriving in the years to come.Current Population Trend: Decreasing What is a shoebill?ĭepending on your perspective, a shoebill either has the same goofy charm as the long-lost dodo or it looks like it might go on the attack any moment. Shoebills are not particularly harmful to humans and there are no confirmed cases of death due to these birds attacking humans, pets, or livestock. They may look scary and have big, intimidating bills, but those bills are only a cause for concern for fish and some small animals. Understanding these beautiful shoebill birds is important, and education about these creatures will help in conservation efforts and in preventing the shoebill bird from becoming endangered. There’s a lot more to learn about shoebills, and this information has really only scratched the surface. Today, scientists continue to study fossils and information about shoebills to get a better idea of what they are and how to understand them. It wasn’t until over a hundred years later that shoebills were reclassified. Humans have known about shoebills as long ago as ancient Egypt when they are first referred to in written language. They did not receive a classification until the 1800s, however, when they become known to the West and specifically to Europe. The Shoebill stork is Earth’s Last Living Dinosaur? Some scientists also feel that the shoebill is related to herons, and therefore it can also be known as a shoebill crane. The shoebill resembles a stork in its structure and shape, and this is why it is also sometimes referred to as the shoebill stork. The shoebill is very closely related to pelicans, which is why it is sometimes referred to as a shoebill pelican and is classified in the order Pelecaniformes. However, in the past, the shoebill was miscategorized as belonging to the Ciconiiformes order, which includes storks.
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