The problem is that there are only 3,000 to 5,000 Shoebills left in the wild – and that’s not exactly a big number.ĭerek Gibson hopes interest in Abou will also raise awareness of the threats these species face around the world. “There is huge interest in Abou and rightly so as she is beautiful to look at.” – Derek Gibson, Keeper at Exmoor Zoo In England, Abou is now waiting for the breeding program to produce a male bird so the pair can produce much-needed offspring. The behavior of the animal shows how much Abou desires a partner: the lovesick bird greets its keepers with bows and spreading its wings – a common courtship ritual. They typically only raise one cub, so combined with threats from climate change, they are a “massively endangered species,” according to the zoo. The unique-looking bird is just one of 11 shoebills currently living in a zoo around the world. But hopefully, with more habitat protection and conservation work, we can keep these prehistoric-looking creatures around for a long time.An extremely rare dinosaur bird patiently awaits a mate for life to save its entire kind.ġ4-year-old Abou, a female Shoebill, has recently arrived at Exmoor Zoo in England. The Shoebill is classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which estimates that there are somewhere between 3,300 and 5,300 mature birds of this species remaining in the wild in Africa. Unfortunately, habit loss and capture by humans, amongst other threats, has put these birds in peril. The Shoebill is a fascinating bird, and there might still be more left to learn about it. What with all the confusion, the current taxonomic placement for Shoebills is still being debated, and there might be more changes down the line. But more recently, the Shoebill has been placed into its own taxonomic family, Balaenicipitidae.
Still other physical and genetic studies classified this bird as more closely related to pelicans (order Pelecaniformes). Because of physical and behavioral studies, this bird was once placed in the same order as storks, herons, and ibises (order Ciconiiformes). If two males come across one another, then it is a fair bet that they will fight, or at least argue with some territorial bill-clattering.īeing a very odd bird, it’s taken a while for the Shoebill to be properly scientifically classified. Even a mating pair will forage separately across the swamp. Solitary in nature, even when paired with another, the birds like their space and will feed at opposite ends of their territory. They can even clap their mandibles together so quickly that it sounds like a machine gun is being fired! Taller than a mailbox, with an eight-foot wingspan, the shoebill is quite a kick to observe This hefty bird with its lesson-in-gray plumage is endemic to swamps and wetlands of Central and East Africa. This clapping sounds a bit like teeth-chattering, only louder. Shoebills will clap their mandibles together to attract mates and scare off intruders. In addition to catching larger prey items, the big bill helps these birds communicate with one another and other animals. Then, once an unlucky fish or turtle swims by, the Shoebill collapses forward with its whole body, engulfing its prey in its bill and shaking it to death. Sometimes it’ll stand still as a statue for hours at a time. This bird hunts by standing stock still and waiting patiently. These large prey items can be difficult to catch, so the Shoebill spends most of its day fishing in the African swamps. In fact, the Shoebill’s bill is large enough for them to prey on lungfish, turtles, fish, and even young crocodiles. Spanning about 7 inches, the bill is said to resemble a huge Dutch wooden clog shoe (hence the name Shoebill). With its huge height and striking appearance, this bird strongly resembles a dinosaur… or perhaps a muppet.īut despite its size, the most striking thing about this bird is its big, honking beak. It has gray plumage with large yellow eyes, and long legs. This bird, endemic to Central and Northeast Africa, stands between 3.5 to 5 feet in height, with an 8 foot wingspan. Are there any shoebill storks in the United States ZooTampa is home to three of only four shoebill storks in the. The shoebill, or Balaeniceps rex, stands at an average height of four and a half feet.
They evolved from dinosaurs hundreds of millions of years ago. While every species of bird is unique in its own way, there are some species that stand out more than others. Yusuke Miyahara/FlickrThe shoebill looks prehistoric because, in part, it is.
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