Females can grow up to six feet and weigh more than 200 pounds, while males can reach nine feet tall and roughly 280 pounds. With its long neck and brown plumage, the ostrich is the tallest and heaviest bird on the planet. Currently only three other Zoos in the United States are exhibiting the species. Which zoos have a shoebill stork?įor the first time in its 88-year history the Houston Zoo is home to shoebill storks. They keep cool with a technique called gular fluttering-vibrating the throat muscles to dissipate heat. Though they’re mainly silent, shoebills sometimes engage in bill-clattering, a sound made as a greeting and during nesting. If a weak animal comes across their path, the stork will leap from their hiding place to turn it into a meal. They fight off small and large animals alike. The shoebill stork does not take no for an answer! The species is aggressive. They Are Brave – Even Attacking Crocodiles There are less than 5,000 of these birds left, and humans are mostly to blame. How many shoebills are left in the world?ĭespite having few predators, shoebills are an endangered species. “When the Shoebill approaches you, take a deep bow, shaking your head from side to side,” he said, demonstrating the maneuver like a man from Mumbai wobbling his head to say yes in the middle of a complicated yoga move. Its massive seven-inch beak is strong enough to decapitate a six-foot lungfish, so it’s no wonder why this bird is frequently compared to a dinosaur. The shoebill, or Balaeniceps rex, stands at an average height of four and a half feet. These birds are so unique looking they have even been found on ancient Egyptian artwork. They don’t talk much, but when they do, their machine gun clatter just might make you duck for cover. Shoebills’ penetrating “death” stare will stop you dead in your tracks. The shoebill stork will not threaten humans, but will only stare right back at them. Researchers studying these birds have been able to come within 6 feet of a shoebill stork on its nest. Shoebill storks are very docile with humans. Shoebill | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants. Occasionally frogs, snakes, snails, rodents & even baby crocodiles.ĭoes the San Diego Zoo have a shoebill stork? In most places it is illegal to own a shoebill stork as a pet, and they are threatened with extinction, which makes each individual important for the survival of the species. Shoebills are quite large, making them difficult to house. Shoebills do have strong stomachs and can wolf down just about any animal. That’s not to say that large antelope and crocodiles are part of their everyday diet.

While they are known as the bird that eats crocodiles, there is much more to the shoebill stork diet. This bird eats crocodiles! What bird kills crocodiles? They eat big fish like lungfish, eels, and catfish, and also crazy stuff like Nile monitor lizards, snakes, and baby crocodiles.

Shoebills are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Ciconiiformes, family Balaenicipitidae.Shoebills, which live in the swamps of eastern tropical Africa, are after smaller prey. A ground nester, the shoebill deposits its one or two chalky white eggs in a nest of grasses on a high, dry spot, where its downy young remain, helpless for some time after hatching. In several respects, shoebills are similar to herons, e.g., they fly with their heads and necks folded back.

Partially nocturnal, it tends to be sluggish but is nonetheless a strong flyer and soarer. It obtains this diet by probing the mud with its bootlike bill. A solitary, silent bird, the shoebill stork is native to the marshy banks of the papyrus swamps of the East African White Nile and its tributaries, where it feeds on a diet of frogs, small crocodiles, and especially lungfish and other mud puddle fish. It has broad wings and long, strong legs with large, unwebbed feet. Also known as the whalehead, it is noted for its large head and unusually long and wide, many-colored bill, which ends in a hooked tip. Shoebill stork, common name for a large (up to 54 in./122 cm) tall, storklike bird, Balaeniceps rex.

Shoebill stork diet