The shoebill will wait out its prey especially in the shallow ends of wetlands or any floating vegetation to stake out its meal. They attack at the baby crocodile swiftly when an opportunity presents itself and with its sharp and hard beak, once the prey is captured, it cannot escape their fate. It is known for being a fierce hunter and a patient predator. Shoebills prefer to feed on lungfish but supplement this other assortment like water snakes, frogs, turtles, and occasionally baby crocodiles when the young one’s parents are not around. The Shoebill is a carnivorous bird that mainly feeds on fish and aquatic features. This means that when a shoebill spreads its wings, it has a bigger wingspan than Shaquille O’Neal. The shoebill wings can spread up to 2.5 meters and can flap about 150 times per minute. The legs are long, slender and black in colour, 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 colour and it has the most outstanding feature which is the shoe-shaped bill. The shoebill stock is a tall bird with a height of about 4.5 feet and weighs about 7 kilograms. The shoebill stock is also known as “whale head”. In Uganda where you are guaranteed to see, visitors can find them in Mabamba swamp, Along River Nile in Murchison falls national park, Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and Semuliki national park and some other swamps close to Lake Victoria. The Shoebill stock is endemic to East and Central Africa and it can be found in countries of Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia and South Sudan. The shoebill tends to inhabit in more open areas preferably particular vegetation formed by papyrus and tall grass around freshwater swamps, wetlands, lake and Rivers. Below are some of the facts anyone should know about the shoebill stock. ![]() The shoebill stock is a very large stork-like bird which derives its name from its enormous shoe-shaped bill. P.S I also got to Dublin to see their new African Plains and Ele exhibits.Facts about the Shoebill Stock bird : The shoebill stork also scientifically called Balaeniceps rex is one of the best bird species in Africa and certainly one of the most challenging birds to find in Africa. However, the Shoebill's were still there and what a bird! They had me mesmerised! A hatching of a Shoebill chick at Lowry park Zoo in Florida might get some of our UK curators thinking about adding this vulnerable, charasmatic and sizeable species - Come on Paignton, Chester and Slimbridge! Zurich had a male and a female, not sure about status. The Gelada/Ibex/Hyrax exhibit was one of the best multi-species enclosures I've seen anywhere - clever planning and worth the trip just for that alone! Chameleons, snakes and birds were everywhere. Red Ruffed Lemurs that were eating from fruit growing within the dome. I had to search hard for the 'key'species i.e. I will post my photo's soon (I have only just got round to viewing them, hence my post many weeks later). I was however, unprepared for the new Malagasy Rainforest exhibit 'Masaola Forest' - Wow! It was easy the size of Eden Projects main dome, if not bigger. In July I visited Zurich Zoo for the second time.
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