Shoebill | World's Weirdest Animals

Deep in the swamps of Africa is a bird that looks like it was put together from pieces of other animals. On this episode of world’s weirdest animals, we bring you the Shoebill.

Looking like a real life version of Donald Duck, the shoebill, shoe-billed stork or whalehead as it’s called stands 5 feet or 1.5 meters tall and is 4 feet or 1.2 meters long. They weigh in around 9 to 15 lbs or 4 to 7 kg. Their strong neck, legs, bill and broad wings look like a smash up of different animals like a stork, eagle and flamingo. They have bluish grey feathers and a wingspan of up to 8 feet or 2.5 meters wide. They get their name from their shoe shaped beak hence the shoebill. The bill itself is often streaked with erratic grey markings and measure 9 inches or 2 decimeters long by 4 inches or 1 decimeter wide. A nail-like hook on the end of the beak is used to kill their prey, it is so sharp that they often use the hook to decapitate their lunch
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This bird often called a statue like bird, attacks at night from a still state. They stand motionless for hours waiting for the precise moment to unleash their lightning speed, strength and pin point accuracy to make a catch. Their diet consists of amphibians, lizards, snakes, fish, rats and baby crocodiles. Catfish and lungfish are favorites of the shoebill which predominantly lives in the great lakes region of africa. They are found in large swamps from Sudan to Zambia with sightings in other parts of Africa. While they primarily hunt in swamps they have been rarely found to be foraging among rice fields and flooded plantations. Shoebills employ the help of hippopotamus to catch their prey. The hippos force fish to the surface of the water with their movement making an easy lunch for the shoebill.

They live solo their whole lives except when they mate and care for their young. They mate during the dry season to protect their young from flooding. Females will lay up to 3 eggs in their nests among the swamp grass. These eggs will hatch after their 30 day incubation period breathing life to babies with brown fur. Once born they can’t stand up until they are at least 2 months old, the mothers will feed them until they start hunting for themselves at 3 and half months old. Up until this point they rely on their mother to bring them food and water. Within the nest baby shoebills will fight for dominance which will lead to the mother choosing to feed one over the other. Shoebills don’t nest in colonies like other large birds like pelicans, storks and herons and only 3 nests will be found for every 1 sq km or 0.4 sq miles. The shoebill will reach sexual maturity by 4 years old and can live up to 35 years in the wild. They can make a variety of different sounds. Shoebills generally stay silent but can make high pitch whines or can utter a cow like moo sound. Currently classified as vulnerable the shoebill’s numbers are healthy for the time being but will likely decline into a endangered state if changes aren’t made to protect their habitat.

They remained undetected until the 1850s due to their keen ability to avoid human interaction. Since then we’ve learned all sorts of things about this unique bird but nothing as bizarre as the fact that they deficate on themselves to stay cool. This warm blooded animal utilizes their liquidy poo as a way to keep their legs cool in the hot african sun.

Footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0wfJOUaa5k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWU9XLgvJv8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4aTvIqbIB0
https://www.flickr.com/photos/emiliechenphoto/36282761666
https://www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/33209280940

Check out some of our other videos:

Top 10 Fruits You’ve Never Heard Of Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRdgPyZF45g&feature=youtu.be
Top 10 Fruits You’ve Never Heard Of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKTej1u-7-0&feature=youtu.be

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Intro music thanks to Machinmasound:
Rallying the Defense:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruPk4RD19Nw

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