The Unforgettable Shoebill.

Greetings. Balaeniceps rex, also known as the Shoebill, is a large long-legged wading bird. It derives its name from its distinctive, enormous shoe-shaped bill. It has a somewhat stork-like physical appearance and has previously been classified with the storks in the order Ciconiiformes based on this morphology. However, new genetic evidence places it with pelicans and herons in the Pelecaniformes. The species lives in tropical East Africa in large swampy environments from South Sudan to Zambia.

The shoebill is a tall bird, with a typical height range of between 110 to 140 centimeters, some specimens reaching as much as 152 centimeters in height. Length from tail to beak can range from 100 to 140 centimeters, with wingspans ranging from 230 to 260 centimeters. Adults weigh from 4 to 7 kilograms. A male shoebill will weigh on average around 5.6 kilograms, as opposed to the typical female weight of 4.9 kilograms. The signature feature of the species is its huge, bulbous bill, which is straw-coloured with erratic greyish markings. The exposed culmen is 18.8 to 24 centimeters long, the third longest bill among extant birds after pelicans and large storks, rivaling pelicans in overall bill circumference. As in pelicans, the upper mandible is strongly keeled, ending in a sharp nail. The dark coloured legs are fairly long, with a tarsus length of 25.5 centimeters. The shoebill's feet are exceptionally large, with the middle toe reaching 18.5 centimeters in length, assisting the species in its ability to stand on aquatic vegetation while actively hunting. The neck is somewhat shorter and thicker than other long-legged wading birds such as herons and cranes. The wings are broad, with a wing chord length of up to 78 centimeters, well-adapted to soaring and capable of powerful, albeit short flights. 

The plumage of adult shoebills is blue-grey with darker slaty-grey flight feathers. The breast presents some elongated feathers, which have dark shafts. The juvenile has a similar plumage color, but is darker grey with a brown tinge. When they are first born, shoebills have a more modestly-sized bill, which is initially silvery-grey. The bill becomes more noticeably large when the chicks are about 23 days old and becomes well developed by 43 days.

The shoebill is normally a silent bird, but they perform bill-clattering displays at the nest. When engaging in these displays, adult shoebills have also been observed to utter a cow-like moo as well as high-pitched whines. Both nestlings and adults engage in bill-clattering during the nesting season as a means of communication. When young are begging for food, they call out with a sound reminiscent of human hiccups.

The wings of shoebills are held flat while soaring and, as in the pelicans and the storks of the genus Leptoptilos, the species flies with its neck retracted. Its flapping rate, at an estimated 150 flaps per minute, is one of the slowest of any modern-day avian dinosaur, with the exception of the larger stork species. The pattern is alternating flapping and gliding cycles of approximately seven seconds each, putting its gliding distance somewhere between the larger storks and the Andean condor, Vultur gryphus. When flushed, shoebills usually fly no further than about 500 meters. Long flights of the shoebill are extremely rare, and only a few flights beyond its minimum foraging distance of 20 meters have been accurately recorded.

The shoebill exists in extensive, dense freshwater marshes. Almost all wetlands that attract the species have undisturbed Cyperus papyrus and reed beds of Phragmites and Typha. Although their distribution largely seems to correspond with the distribution of papyrus in central Africa, the species seems to avoid pure papyrus swamps and is often attracted to areas with mixed vegetation. More rarely, the species has been seen foraging in rice fields and flooded plantations. The distribution of this species seems to largely coincide with that of papyrus and lungfish. They are often found in areas of flood plain interspersed with undisturbed papyrus and reedbeds. When shoebill storks are in an area with deep water, a bed of floating vegetation is a requirement. They are also found where there is poorly oxygenated water. This causes the lungfish living in the water to surface for air more often, increasing the likelihood a shoebill stork will successfully capture it. The shoebill is non-migratory with limited seasonal movements due to habitat changes, food availability and disturbance by humans.

Shoebills are largely piscivorous but can be active predators of a diverse range of wetland vertebrates. Preferred prey species have reportedly included marbled lungfish, african lungfish, various species of catfish. Other prey eaten by shoebills include frogs, water snakes, nile monitors, and baby crocodiles. More rarely, small turtles, snails, rodents, small waterfowl and carrion have reportedly been eaten.

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