Their vision is strong, and they rely on it entirely for hunting.

Their long toes that lack webbing help the shoebill walk on vegetation easily, like the jacana, while maintaining their balance using their wings.

The large bills are the most striking feature of the shoebill, helping it scoop up large prey, which it kills using its beak’s razor-sharp edge.

Only large, desperately hungry animals like crocodiles attempt to attack them but only do so on rare occasions.Ĭhicks are sometimes stolen from their nests only when their parents aren’t around. They are some of the slowest birds ever to fly, at 150 flaps per minute, and cover distances of less than 330 to 1,640 ft.Īdult birds have no known natural predators due to their large size and intimidating appearance.

They are capable of flight but are rarely seen doing so, indicating a reluctance to fly.

These birds expel the excessive items keeping only their quarry, which gets decapitated before consumption. They pick up water and vegetation, along with their intended prey.

When hunting, the shoebill stays motionless in one spot until it suddenly lurches in a manner referred to as “collapsing”.

The chicks often make a typical sound when begging for food, similar to human hiccups. Though these birds are usually silent, they are known to communicate via bill clattering, sounding similar to a machine gun firing.Only when food is scarce will these storks forage close to each other. Even breeding pairs rarely interact with each other. Shoebills are solitary and seldom seen in groups, foraging 20m apart, even in densely populated areas.

These birds are long-lived, living for more than 35 years. Shoebills will also consume carrion, rodents, snails, and waterfowl on rare occasions or periods of scarcity. Sometimes it will also hunt frogs, mollusks, monitor lizards, juvenile crocodiles, and turtles. Piscivorous by nature, it primarily eats bichirs, catfish, lungfish, tilapia, and water snakes.

Shoebill stork noise