Actually, they prefer to eat at night after the sun has set. They will parade on a water body or any hideout waiting for their prey to feast on, even if it means parading there for an entire day until they get what they need to eat during the night. They appear sluggish on the ground but are graceful in the air, and when attacking their prey, they pull back their wings and strongly approach their prey. They have a large wing span in flight and retract their heads and necks. These sounds are mostly done while at their nests. However, shoebills have been observed communicating by making sounds and gestures such as mooing, head bobbing, bill-clapping, and high-pitched whining. Their silence helps them capture their prey by hiding silently and jumping once to grab it with their large shoe-like beak. Even hunting is done separately, and the male and female are only seen together during mating season, after which each bird moves separately. Shoebill storks are known to prefer to live alone. They are mostly solitary birds with territories that they can be fiercely protective of. Despite being primarily water birds, they lack webbed feet but can still stalk their prey in the water. Shoebill stocks are mostly active at night. However, there are several factors affecting the shoebill stork’s population growth, including fishermen who hunt and kill them in the belief that they bring bad luck, habitat destruction in which swamps are converted to agricultural land and cattle grazing areas, pollution, and climate change, among others. Population in Uganda: The shoebill stork population in Uganda is considered endangered, with less than 1000 shoebill storks remaining. Shoebill storks feed in muddy waters and hunt with vision, striking as soon as they spot prey or waiting patiently for an ambush. Habitats and feeding: Shoebill storks live in swamps or lakes and feed on a variety of prey including frogs, water snakes, baby crocodiles, turtles, rodents, monitor lizards, turtles, snails, small waterfowls, tilapia fish, lungfish, catfish.

After about 105 days, the young shoebill stork develops flight feathers and can fly well. The incubation period lasts about 30 days, and both parents help guard the nest and feed the young. Both the female and male shoebills build nests, and the female typically lays one to three 164 grams eggs. Reproduction: During the mating season, which lasts from April to June, male and female shoebill storks build 1-1.7-meter-wide nests out of aquatic vegetation on floating platforms. Life Span: The shoebill stork is known to be a solitary bird and can live for 35 years in the wild, and up to a stunning 50 years or more in captivity. The shoebill stork is known as a statue bird because it is frequently seen standing and remaining still in one location for extended periods.įlying distance: Due to their flapping rate of about 150 flaps per minute and their nature, shoebills are slow and their flying distance ranges between 100-500 meters.

The shoebill stork’s tail measures 100-140cm in length, and its wingspan is 230-260cm. Length: The shoebill stork is about 110cm-140cm tall when standing on its legs and has a long foot that extends up to 18cm, allowing it to stand on aquatic vegetation. Weight: A mature female shoebill stork weighs approximately 4.9 kilograms, whereas a male shoebill weighs approximately 5.6 kilograms. Mouth: The shoebill stork has a shoe-like shaped mouth, hence the name shoebill, and a sharp bent beak that allows it to tear mammals into reasonable sizes for easy digestion. When flying, the shoe bill stork’s legs extend straight back past the tail and its neck draws back.

African shoebill bird