They Remained undetected Until The 1850s.As mentioned above the Shoebill Stork has a prehistoric look and you can easily picture it together with the dinosaurs. Shoebill storks poo on themselves to keep cool The Shoebill Stork is classified as a giant stork together with Saddle-billed Stork and Marabou Stork.They make a clapping noise especially during mating time When they make noise, it is really intense like a gun shot.Shoebill storks are very solitary and rarely make noise.I bet you could smell one approaching though. This large birdit’s 5 feet talllooks like it would be right at home living amongst the dinosaurs. Since it shares features with storks, pelicans, hamerkop, and herons, it is rather difficult to classify. They weigh about 16 pounds and are nearly five feet in height. This bird, also called the shoe-billed stork or whale-headed stork, isn’t really a stork.
They are big and tall and can literally look you in the eyes.The shoebill stork is an impressive and somewhat ugly dinosaur-like bird that is. Shoebill stork reproduction begins at three years old, and they can survive in the wild under good conditions for more than thirty-five years 15 Shoebill Stork Facts (Balaeniceps rex) Prehistoric, Patient Hunters. They can live for more than 35 years although their habitant is being encroached on by man.Shoebill storks are so patient and may stand still for about 2 hours waiting patiently to catch their prey in water.Bizarre looking shoebill stork Fun facts about shoebill storks Only one out of three chicks survives.Ī shoebill stork looks like it is made up of different spare parts from different birds, for example it looks like it stole its beak from a pelican, legs from a flamingo, and it is head from an eagle. Their chicks must be fully fletched before the rains arrive or else they will be swept away by floods. The shoebill storks hunt in the reeds and build their nests in the sandy banks. Several shoebill storks live in this swamp, offering the perfect opportunity to see them anytime of the year. Mabamba wetland bay swamp is a perfect bird life sanctuary with other birds that include the papyrus swamp gonelek, African Jacana, malachite Kingfisher among other birds. The shoebill stork ranks among the 10 highly sought after birds by birders on a Uganda bird watching safari and cannot be missed at Mabamba wetland swamp in Uganda as well as Murchison Falls National Park. It is a pre-historic bird and some scientists have reported that it is said to be related to dinosaurs- That is scary- Right? Shoebill storks are only found in Africa, and are critically endangered with about 5000 remaining. It hunts like a heron from a standing position and lung fish are his favorite meal. A shoebill stork- A bird that looks like a dinosaurĪ shoebill stork (Balaenicepts rex) is bizarre looking, shy and elusive and 54 inches /122 cm tall and has a bill that looks like like a shoe.