They fight each other off until the weakest chick is pushed out. It is the real survival for the fittest in the shoebill’s nest. The chicks are known for being insanely competitive. When hungry the chicks make hiccup-like sounds to notify the mother that they need food. The young one is not able to stand and move on its own until two months later, so it solely depends on the mother’s food provision until three months later when they can do this on their own with the supervision of the parents. The female lays between 1 to 3 eggs and incubates them for about 30 days until they hatch. The shoebill mating season is closer to the dry period than the wet period when it is safer for the nest and eggs. The Shoebill facts: what is the incubation period of Shoebill A shoebill stork becomes sexually active at 3 to 4 years of age. The shoebill stork can live for more than 35 years in the wild. Partners only come together for mating, building the nesting area and incubating the eggs. Socially, the shoebill is a solitary and quiet animal. This means they are more closely related to the pelicans, anhingas and gannets than to the storks. These are a family of medium to large-sized water birds. That is how massive a shoebill really is.Īlthough it is called a shoebill stork, it is a member of the taxonomic order of Pelecaniformes. This means that when a shoebill spreads its wings, it has a bigger wingspan than Shaquille O’Neal (Wingspan of 7.5 feet). The shoebill wings can spread up to 2.5 meters (8 feet) and can flap about 150 times per minute. The legs are long, slender and black in color, with large feet. The beak is almost 10 inches long, deadly and used for both feeding and protecting itself. The beak of the shoebill is curved at the tip and has very sharp edges with which the bird uses to cut through its food. It is grey in color, but the most outstanding feature is the shoe-shaped bill. Exceptional specimens reach 60 in (152 cm). That’s due to the fact that mature adults stand an average of 43 – 55 in (110 – 140 cm) in height. That’s because it’s a tall bird, to put it mildly. Its great physical size, though, easily ranks as one of these distinguishing traits. Unlike other bird species, shoebill is a tall bird. In Uganda, you can see these rare birds in Mabamba swamp, Lake Mburo National Park, Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary, and Murchison Falls National Park. The Shoebill is endemic to East and Central African, countries of Uganda, DRC, Kenya, Botswana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia and South Sudan. The Shoebill facts: Where to find shoebill This can be extremely startling to hear in the middle of the wilderness. Yes, shoebills fly but not very far or and they seem to be big, but they can fly if they want to.Īlthough they do have some vocal calls and cries that they use to communicate with each other, shoebills tend to make a clattering sound with their large beaks that is described as sounding like a machine gun being fired. It tends to inhabit around freshwater swamps, wetlands and marshlands. Evidence indicates it once had a greater range, though. That’s due to the fact that it only appears to live in a small portion of one continent. The Shoebill has a somewhat limited range of habitation. The Shoebill facts: Distribution & Natural Habitat It might look a little unreal but there is a healthy number of shoebills in Uganda that you can meet during Uganda safaris. In this article, we are going to talk about The Shoebill facts. These include the whale head, whale-headed stork, and shoe-billed stork. It also has alternate names by which it’s known, though. The Shoebill facts: The term of Shoebill serves as the most frequently used of the common names for a stork-like bird, renowned for its size.
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