We have been spending the last couple of days in the water learning about interesting ocean animals so I thought we would come to land today.  Once you get dried off we will take some time to go and learn about the Shoebill.  In case you weren’t able to tell from the picture the Shoebill is a large stork-like bird that obviously gets its name from their unique shoe-shaped bill.

The Shoebill is usually between 115-150 cm (45-60″) tall and can weigh up to 7 kg (15.5 lbs).  I told you they were a large stork-like bird but did you think they would be 5 feet tall? Adult Shoebill’s are usually a gray colour while the juveniles tend to be a more brown colour. If you want to check out these tall birds then you will need to make a trip to East Africa where you can find them in the swamps from Sudan all the way to Zambia.

The swamp is a perfect home for the Shoebill since they like to feed in the muddy water where they feast upon fish, frogs, small mammals and even baby crocodiles.  Man, crocodiles have it rough.  Either their skin is used to make boots or they are consumed by a large shoe.  They must have a legitimate fear for footwear.  A funny fact about the feeding habits of the Shoebill.  When they are attacking their prey this big bird (no, not the Sesame Street one) has to put its wings back otherwise they would lose their balance.  Trust me there is nothing more embarrassing than falling over as you are trying to catch your prey.

For the most part the Shoebill is a solitary animal and will only pair up during their mating season.  Considering they spend most of their days just standing around looking for food, you think they would want to have a friend to hang out with.  Seriously, they will barely move when they are hunting except to move their head slightly or to switch their feet around.  How boring would that be?

Shoebill Fast Fact – The large shoe-like bill of this aptly named bird is usually about 20 cm long by 20 cm wide.  Why is this significant? These dimensions give the Shoebill the largest bill of all the bird species on this great planet of ours.  Well out of the birds that we have discovered anyways.

That just about does it for me folks.  Have a great day!