The toes are extremely long and completely divided with no webbing between them. The eyes are large and yellowish or grayish-white in color. The mandibles have sharp edges that aid in capturing and eating prey.
The color of the bill is yellowish with blotchy dark spots. It is an enormous structure ending in a sharp, curved hook. The bill is the most prominent feature of shoebill storks and resembles a wooden shoe. A newly hatched shoebill stork is covered in silvery-grey silky down and juveniles are a slightly darker shade of grey than adults. On the back of the head is a small tuft of feathers that can erect in a crest. Adult breeding plumage does not differ from non-breeding plumage. The underparts are a lighter shade of grey. The primaries are black-tipped and secondaries have a greenish tint. The plumage is slaty blue-grey overall with a darker grey head. Males are larger than females and have longer bills. Large, somewhat frightful looking birds, shoebill storks stand 110 to 140 cm tall. This causes the fish living in the water to surface for air more often, increasing the likelihood a shoebill stork will successfully capture it. They are also found where there is poorly oxygenated water. When shoebill storks are in an area with deep water, a bed of floating vegetation is a requirement. They are often found in areas of flood plain interspersed with undisturbed papyrus and reedbeds. Shoebill storks inhabit freshwater swamps and extensive, dense marshes.
This bird's range usually coincides with that of papyrus and lungfish. Smaller populations occupy eastern Zaire and Rwanda. The main populations are found in southern Sudan (mainly in the White Nile Sudd), the wetlands of northern Uganda and western Tanzania and the Bangweulu swamp of northeastern Zambia. Shoebills have several ways of cooling themselves, including gular fluttering, i.e., expanding their throat sac to allow greater passage of air and defecating on their legs to keep them from being exposed to heat.Shoebill or whale-headed storks are endemic to Africa and inhabit the east-central part of the continent.The presence of the nictitating membrane keeps their eyes moist, also protecting them from dirt and dust. Their vision is strong, relying on it entirely for hunting.Their long toes that lack webbing help the shoebill walk on vegetation with ease like the jacana while maintaining their balance using their wings.The large bills are the most striking feature of the shoebill, helping it scoop up large prey, which it kills using its beak’s razor-sharp edge.Only large, desperately hungry animals like crocodiles attempt to attack them but only do so on rare occasions.Ĭhicks are sometimes stolen from their nests, but only when the parents aren’t around. They are some of the slowest birds to ever fly, at 150 flaps per minute, and cover distances of less than 330 to 1,640 ft.Īdult birds have no known natural predators due to their large size and intimidating appearance. They are capable of flight but are rarely seen doing so, indicating a reluctance to fly.These birds expel the excessive items keeping only their quarry, which gets decapacitated before its consumption. They pick up water and vegetation, along with their intended prey. When hunting, the shoebill stays motionless in one spot until they suddenly lurch in a manner referred to as “collapsing”.The chicks often make a typical sound when begging for food, sounding similar to human hiccups. Though these birds are usually silent, they are known to communicate via bill clattering, sounding similar to a machine gun firing.Only when food is scarce will these storks forage close to each other. Even breeding pairs rarely interact with each other. Shoebills are solitary and are seldom seen in groups, foraging 20m apart from each other even in densely populated areas.These birds are long-lived, living for more than 35 years. Shoebills will also consume carrion, rodents, snails, and waterfowl on rare occasions or periods of scarcity. Sometimes they will also hunt frogs, mollusks, monitor lizards, juvenile crocodiles, and turtles. Piscivorous by nature, this stork primarily eats bichirs, catfish, lungfish, tilapia, and water snakes.
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