They are relatively successful as hunters with the success rate being about 60% of the hunts yielding results. When prey is spotted, the shoebill will lunge quite violently, striking and catching prey with its bill. When they are surprised or flushed, they will fly no more than 500 m (1640 ft).Īs they hunt, the massive bill is held vertically down out of the way of the line of sight, since these birds hunt primarily by sight. It also has one of the slowest wing flap rates at just 150 flaps per minute, with the flight pattern alternating between flapping and gliding at a rate of about 7 seconds between each.Įven with such an impressive wingspan, the Shoebill doesn’t like to fly for long periods or distances and has been recorded only a few times flying further than 20 m (66 ft) when foraging. Just like pelicans and larger storks, when in flight, the wings are held flat, and the neck is retracted. They have grey feathers with the flight feathers being a darker grey, white belly feathers, yellow eyes and a feathered crest at the back of the head. The colours and wings of the Shoebill bird. Its feet are quite large and its legs long, and are perfectly suited to its aquatic habitat and hunting techniques. The bill also has another unique: a razor-sharp, curved hook at the end of the bill. Their shoe-shaped bill is also the third longest in the world, behind pelicans and the larger stork species, and can reach 24 cm (9.4 in.), in length and 20 cm (7.8 in.) in width, which gives the shoebill the tools to hunt extremely large prey. The males will weigh about 5.6 kg (12 lbs.), while the females will usually weigh about 4.9 kg (11 lbs.), but some males will reach weights of 7 kg (15 lbs). Shoebill birds display sexual dimorphism with the male being bigger and heavier than the females. When compared to a human, an adult shoebill is slightly shorter than an average-height adult human. The Shoebill stork is a tall bird, with most of its heights ranging from 110-140 cm ( 43-55 in.), and the tallest individuals reaching 152 cm (60 in.).įrom beak to tail, the length will average between 110-140 cm ( 39-55 in.), and the wingspan ranges from 230-260 cm (7’7”-8’6”), which makes them well adapted for soaring. The appearance of the Shoebill stork bird. In this article, you’ll get to know more about this amazing, and why it fascinates birders so much. Its scientific name is Balaeniceps rex, which is derived from the Latin words Balaena and Caput (abbreviated as Ceps), which stand for whale and head respectively, giving the shoebill another name, the Whale Headed Stork.
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