As hippos move around a swamp, they create pathways and disorganize fish hiding in the mud. The Shoebill Stork also takes advantage of the commotion left behind by large animals like hippos. Standing still, it positions itself around such pools waiting for the nearly suffocating fish to come for oxygen in the surface and then launch a surprise strike.

The Shoebill Stork also takes advantage of water pools that are poorly oxygenated to ambush its prey. Shoebill Storks has a tendency to stand still and motionless on floating vegetation for long periods of time just to appear harmless before catching their prey by surprise. It will carefully calculate it’s moves before striking prey. The Shoebill Stork’s beak measures up to 20cm in width and 24cm in length enabling it to hunt both small and large prey.Īn Excellent Hunter: The Shoebill Stork is a very tactful day and night hunter. The title of longest beak belongs to the Toucan. One of the Largest beaks in the world: The Shoebill Stork has the 3rd longest beak in the world. Here are other interesting facts about the Shoebill Stork that you might not know: – Facts About the Shoebill Stork Pelicans and herons also belong to this group and thus have a similar genetic composition. They found that the bird actually belongs to the pelecaniformes and Balaenicipitidae family.

The Shoebill Stork was at first considered to belong to the stork family but Researchers later discovered something different. They prefer living in swampy marshes and other water sources like lakes or rivers. An adult Shoebill Stork has gray feathers, yellow eyes and a white belly while their chicks have bluish -grey feathers with a light colored beak. This rare bird is native to Africa and can be found in Botswana, Uganda, Sudan, Congo, Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania. The Shoebill Stork has dinosaur-like looks and is also often referred to as a whale-headed stork. The Shoebill Stork is a large long-legged bird with an oversized shoe shaped beak from which it derives its name.

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