The shoebill Bird ( Mabamba Swamp)

The shoe bill Bird

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  There is no mistaking Africa’s secretive shoebill with its enormous bill and almost prehistoric looks. These large stork-like birds inhabit the continent’s central and eastern tropical swamps and marshes. Shoebills particularly like poorly oxygenated shallow water as fish surface more often, becoming easy prey for a stalking shoebill with a rapid strike in the tall vegetation. Shoebills are mostly silent and solitary birds, only coming together when food is scarce or to breed. Shoebill breeding coincides with the dry season which may help prevent their large flat nests from flooding. Like some other storks they pour water over the nest to keep the eggs cool.

  In Uganda the shoebill is found in Mabamba Swamp where it spends most of its time feeding.  

  Facts About the Shoebill Bird

    The length of their feet, ‘heel to toe’, can reach 18 cm.

   The beak can reach up to 24 cm in length and 20cm in width.

    Despite weighing as much as 6 kg, the birds can often be found perched on floating vegetation, from where they do their fishing, preferring poorly oxygenated water because it forces the fish to surface for air. If going in for the kill, they put their wings out backwards to maintain balance.

    When not perched precariously on a clump of water greenery, they are waders. They tend to move very slowly, watching the water for signs of fish.

    At 1.5m in height, one might say they are solitary giants, only pairing up for the purpose of mating.

   Shoebills are found in marshy areas in countries like Sudan, Zambia, Rwanda and Uganda. Their distribution seems to coincide with the presence of papyrus and lungfish.

   while the shoebill is called a stork, genetically speaking it is more closely related to the pelican or heron families

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