![]() Male shoebill birds usually weigh around 12 pounds and are a little bit heavier than female shoebills, but not by much. Our analysis of potential habitat suitability can be used to guide future Shoebill surveys, and our methodology can be applied to other little known and inaccessible sites to improve estimates of population size continent-wide. The shoebill usually comes in between 40 and 50 inches, although it may be slightly larger than this depending on the individual bird. They are relatively slow-moving birds, with a top speed of only around 10 kilometers (6 miles) per hour. Our study provides the first estimate of the extent of potentially suitable habitat and an estimate of the population size of Shoebills for the entire swamp. Shoebill Stork Speed Shoebill storks are among the largest of all wading birds, with a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters (8 feet) and a body length of up to 1.5 meters (5 feet). We suggest that previous estimates may have been underestimates. Our most conservative mean population size estimate of 1 296 individuals is 550% higher than previous estimates. Population size was then re-estimated based on the extent of potentially suitable habitat, which covered 37% of the swamp. We then applied maximum entropy modelling to satellite images to produce a quantitative map of the likelihood of habitat being suitable (occupied), based on the location of Shoebill sightings. We conducted an aerial survey of Shoebills in the Bangweulu Swamps of north-eastern Zambia using a microlight aircraft in July 2006, and used strip transect methodology to estimate population size. They seemed incredulous, so we ‘butted in’ and assured them that our group was an example of this.The Shoebill Balaeniceps rex is a threatened bird of inaccessible papyrus swamps in central and eastern Africa, and is thus difficult to census. We overheard a guide telling some senior school pupils who were visiting the centre that these birds are important for tourism, as so many birders want to see it. Shoebill birds have enormous bills that are shaped like a shoe and are an adaptation for catching and holding the large, slippery fish that it preys on. Although it was a main target on the Uganda trip I was on, the group went to the Centre before setting off on safari, as an ‘insurance’ as the bird can prove very difficult to see. The Shoebill in the main photo above was photographed in Entebbe Wildlife Education Centre. Their large beaks curve down at the end, forming a hook, and they use this sharp curve to pierce through their prey’s bodies. The photo of a Shoebill is also available for sale as various types of wall art, and as home and personal accessories, from my gallery at . They have long, shoe-shaped beaks The shoebill stork gets their name from their shoe-shaped beak that can reach up to 7.4 or 9.4 inches long and 4 inches wide. My Shoebill photo is available to purchase as a Royalty-free stock photo from iStock. These blows either kill their prey outright or stun it enough so that they can scoop it into their beak. size from that of Large Mouth Bass to the small Pacific Herring, and other aquatic organisms such as frogs similar to the Red Eyed Tree Frog (Shoebill. They also use it to deliver blows to their prey, usually fish, but rodents, reptiles, amphibians and sometimes waterbirds are also taken. ![]() The Shoebill uses its huge beak to carry water to sprinkle over its eggs or chicks in very hot weather. “The most extraordinary bird I have seen for many years”. They referred to the bird as ‘a camel-sized bird with an enormous beak’, but as the bird is very secretive, this was dismissed as fanciful for many years. The Arabs have called this bird Abou Marqoub / Abu Markub, ‘father of the shoe’, also in reference to its distinctive beak. It is also sometimes known as the Whale-headed Stork, and the family name given by Gould Balaeniceps comes from two Latin words, balaena ‘whale’, and caput ‘head’, which is abbreviated to -ceps in compound Scientific Latin words. Interestingly, the Victorian scientist John Gould, who gave it its Latin name, believed from the outset that it was related to Pelicans. It was formerly thought to be a member of the stork family, and indeed old books refer to it as a Shoebill Stork or Shoe-billed Stork, but it is now believed to be a single family member of the Pelican order Pelicaniformes. A close-up photo of a Shoebill, Balaeniceps rex, one of the birds which is most sought-after in the world by birders because of its very unusual looks.
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