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The shoebill also known as the whalebill, whale-headed stork or shoe-billed stork, is a very large long-legged wading bird. It derives its name from its enormous shoe-shaped bill. Shoebills, which live in the swamps of eastern tropical Africa, are after smaller prey. But only slightly smaller. They eat big fish like lungfish, eels, and catfish, and also crazy stuff like Nile monitor lizards, snakes, and baby crocodiles. Reaching up to five feet tall with an eight-foot wingspan, shoebills have yellow eyes, gray feathers, white bellies, and a small feathered crest on the back of their heads.
Scientific name: Balaeniceps rex
Height: five feet tall
Higher classification: Balaeniceps
Family: Balaenicipitidae
Kingdom: Animalia
Order: Pelecaniformes
Distribution:
Distribution:
Shoebills are found in central tropical Africa, from southern Sudan and South Sudan through parts of eastern Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, western Tanzania, and northern Zambia. They are non-migratory and only make limited seasonal movements. Shoebills occur in extensive, dense freshwater swamps and marshes. Almost all wetlands that attract these birds have undisturbed papyrus and reed beds, however, they tend to avoid pure papyrus swamps and are often attracted to areas with mixed vegetation. More rarely, shoebills can be found foraging in rice fields and flooded plantations.
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