Shoebill stork eating alligator11/30/2023 ![]() They prey catch by sight and possibly by hearing, but shoebills are not able to feel the underwater animals with their bills. They catch fish that are as long as 19 inches (48 centimeters). But they also catch turtles, water snakes, lizards, frogs, young crocodiles, young water birds, snails, and rodents. Shoebills eat mostly lungfish and other fish that swim near the surface. Then large numbers of fish have to swim close together and they are easy to catch. The best place for shoebills to fish is a marsh or pond where the water is drying up. Channels are trails that big mammals make through the thick water plants, opening up places where shoebills would not be able to go otherwise. If there is an open channel of slow-moving water, shoebills might walk slowly along it. Their long toes spread their weight on the plants, but after a while, the birds gradually sink into the water. Sometimes they stand on floating plants and watch for prey. ![]() They can stand almost motionless with their bills pointing downward for a half hour or longer. They often stand in the water, waiting for prey to swim by. Shoebills have three different ways of fishing. They spread out over the water and keep to themselves when they are fishing. Shoebills are carnivores, meat eaters, which eat mostly fish. Papyrus is a tall water plant that covers some swampy areas. Shoebills live in swamps or beside marshy lakes or rivers where floating ferns, cattails and papyrus (puh-PIE-rus) grow. Some are also found in Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Rwanda. Most of them are in southern Sudan and northern Uganda. Male shoebills are a little larger than the females. Their bills are 7.5 inches (19.1 centimeters) in length and their toes are between 6.6 and 7.3 inches (16.8 and 18.5 centimeters) long. shoebills are about 4 feet (1.2 meters) in length from the tip of their bills to the end of their tails, and their wingspan is 8.5 feet (2.6 meters). On the back of their heads, they have a small crest that rises when they are frightened or excited. Shoebills' legs and toes are long, and they have unusually large, front-facing eyes with yellow irises. Some people can tell individual shoebills apart by the bill markings. Shoebills have gray patches on their yellowish bills. Scientific tests show that they may be more closely related to pelicans than storks and herons. Although shoebills have similarities to herons and storks, they are in a family all by themselves. In any case, their huge hooked bills make them easy to recognize. Some people call them whale-heads because their heads are shaped like the body of a blue whale. They are named for their enormous bills that look like wooden shoes. ![]() Shoebills are large, gray wading birds, birds that search for food in shallow water, that stand about 4.5 feet (1.4 meters) tall. SHOEBILL: Balaenicipitidae PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
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