![]() While these birds are not remarkable for their grey color, they are quite remarkable and we should strive to safeguard their habitats so that they can continue their reign over the wetlands for many years to come. Males and females are both the same color, even the juveniles are grey. The Shoebill gets its name from the fact that it often stands on one leg while it rests, and it has a big toe that looks like a shoe. It has a long neck and bill, and its legs are very strong. Shoebills stay the same color for life, a medium grey with flecks of black on the tips of some feathers. The Shoebill Stork is a large, powerful bird that is native to Africa. Shoebills are found in East Africa’s freshwater swamps and marshes, including Uganda, Sudan, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia. They are sometimes referred to as ‘ whalehead ‘. These birds specialize in watching and waiting for lungfish (yes they’re a thing) or frogs to surface for a breath in oxygen-poor water, at which point the birds snatch up their meal in a lightning fast grab with that strong crushing bill. The shoebill is a large, elusive, stalk-like bird with an almost prehistoric appearance, due to its oversized shoe-shaped beak. Those territories always include large areas of wetlands where B-rex can hunt. They need to be able to call over long distances because these birds are typically solitary and defend large territories. So if you find yourself in the swamps of east Aftrica and hear something that sounds like gunfire, it might just be a B-rex caling for a mate or warning away a competitor. The shoebill stork, also known as the whalehead, is a long-legged, huge stork-like bird named after its large shoe-shaped bill. While shoebills have a syrinx (the bird equivalent of our voice box), they clap the upper and lower parts of their bill together rapidly to make a ‘machine gun’ sound that is very unique and carries quite far. They also use the large hollow bill as a resonator for sound, but their "call” might not be what you expect. ![]() Shoebills keep their eggs cool by scooping their bills full of water and pouring it over the nest. That giant bill is the stork’s main tool for hunting, but it comes in handy for a number of other uses also. Yep, it is true that this African bird hunts crocodiles, along with other animals like snakes and monitor. ![]() The shoebill is known to ornithologists as Balaenicps rex, or B-rex, meaning ‘the whale-headed king’, a reference to the bird’s most prominent feature. The shoebill stork, also commonly referred to as whalehead, whale head stork, or just shoebill is a large swamp-dwelling bird found in east Africa. The shoebill is so badass that it eats crocodiles. The Shoebill Stork, like all of our modern birds, is descended from a group of dinosaurs called theropods which included the Tyrannosaurus rex. A tall and terrifying bird, many people find the shoebill stork reminiscent of dinosaurs, and for good reason. ![]()
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