A number of things are threatening the species including its increased popularity in the pet trade, hunting, and the usual habitat loss and nest destruction. Its status comes from the fact that less than 8,000 in population have been counted. The Shoebill Stork is listed as a vulnerable species. To maintain balance of its oddly proportioned body, the Shoebill Stork will spread its wings behind him for stability when going for the kill. This is because it forces the wildlife and fish living in the water to come up for air and easily fall prey to the Shoebill. You can observe the bird on top of floating vegetation on waters that are poorly oxygenated (swampy, immobile water). The Shoebill Stork uses its large bill to probe the mud around him in search of these food sources. This big stork feeds off frogs, small crocodiles, and fish, mainly Lungfish. During nesting the bird will clap its break together, and its young can make sounds like 'hiccups' to alert the mature storks they are hungry. As previously mentioned, the Stork is quiet most of the time but does make noises to communicate with each other. The young birds will not take their first steps for the first two and a half months! They are born brown and by maturity will be bluish-grey. Usually only one or two eggs, rarely three, are hatched per brood and they are helpless for some time after being incubated for 30 days. Their nests are made of grasses and their eggs are large and chalky. The Shoebill Storks nest in the ground, in a high and dry place. Start the work by drawing a circle & an oval. View As : Standard Printable Step by Step. Shoebills are largely solitary birds that only commune to mate and raise their young afterward. Shoebill is a large size bird and is also known as whalehead. It can remain silent in place a long period of time while waiting for prey to enter its sight. It hunts at night and is known to be extremely quiet for its size. Shoebills also happen to be one of the most popularly collected birds in Africa, so there should always be at least a few members of this species for us to appreciate.The Shoebill Stork has long broad wings and is a great flier when it needs to be, but the bird is partially nocturnal which makes it usually a little sluggish in nature. They’re most easily distinguishable by their bulbous beaks, which are often straw colored. They are large birds, and have been observed at sizes approaching 5 feet tall (152 centimeters) and 16 pounds (7.2 kilograms) in weight. Due to habitat destruction, there are less than 8,000 members of this species left, with protection efforts in full force to keep them alive. The shoebills are solitary creatures, and never hunt near other specimens, maintaining a distance of around 66 ft (20 meters) from other hunting individuals of their species. It tends to stand very still for long periods of the time atop the water and wait for prey to come to it, so its methods are sometimes disturbed by other species more violent motions. It catches prey through tactile hunting, using its sharp bill to launch quick strikes into the water and impaling prey. Its population usually coincides with populations of lungfish, which are one of its chief sources of nutrition along with tilapia, catfish, baby crocodiles, frogs, water snakes, and other small aquatic species. The shoebill is one of the more widely seen birds on the African continent despite its status as vulnerable to extinction. It is not very closely related to the stork, but closer to pelicans and herons. With a distribution that covers Sudan, Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania and with isolated populations in places like Kenya, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Botswana. Also known as the “whalehead” or “shoe-billed stork” because of its similar appearance to the baby bringing bird, the shoebill is a large bird that lives all across tropical Africa.
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