10/29/2022 0 Comments Shoebill wingspanThe best places to watch shoebills up close in Uganda are around the Mabamba Bay marshes on the shores of Lake Victoria and in the Albert Delta, up the Victoria Nile found in Murchison Falls National Park. Then, the bird swiftly pounces on its target, bill-first, decapitating its catch with the sharp edges of its bill and swallowing it whole.ĭistribution of the Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) by the IUCN Where You Can See The Shoebill in Uganda 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. Currently, only a handful of zoos open to the public have shoebills, including 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. Shoebills rarely breed in captivity: At least only two chicks have hatched outside the shoebill’s dwelling zone in the last hundred years. So keep a distance when trying to get that perfect shot. Selfie, anyone? Careful, it can also inflict a very powerful bite and it’s by no means a safe bird for a stranger ignorant of its ways to approach. 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. That’s why taxonomists originally placed it within the family of storks since all storks also use their own shit to cool off. 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, including the 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. So, I would say it’s in the same group as pelicans. They now classify the grotesque bird in the Pelecaniformes group after staring at their telescopes and watching the bird for countless hours. 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. Classification: Heron, Stork or Pelican?Īccording to Wikipedia, the shoebill was known to both ancient Egyptians and Arabs but was not classified until the 19th century, after skins and eventually live specimens were brought to Europe.
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