![]() They do share traits with storks and herons, like the long necks and legs characteristic of wading birds, though their closest relatives are the pelicans. Shoebills are in a family all their own, though they were once classified as storks. The birds practice a hunting technique called “collapsing,” which involves lunging or falling forward on their prey. Shoebills can stay motionless for hours, so when a hapless lungfish comes up for air, it might not notice this lethal prehistoric-looking bird looming until it’s too late. They also have long, thin legs with large feet that are ideal for walking on the vegetation in the freshwater marshes and swamps they inhabit in East Africa, from Ethiopia and South Sudan to Zambia. ![]() Reaching up to five feet tall with an eight-foot wingspan, shoebills have yellow eyes, gray feathers, white bellies, and a small feathered crest on the back of their heads. It even snacks on baby crocodiles and Nile monitor lizards.Īt first glance, shoebills don’t seem like they could be ambush predators. Its specialized bill allows the shoebill to grab large prey, including lungfish, tilapia, eels, and snakes. Tan with brown splotches, it's five inches wide and has sharp edges and a sharp hook on the end. What makes the aptly named shoebill so unique is its foot-long bill that resembles a Dutch clog. Two days later, Redditor Michaelgamesss submitted a post asking "Why are shoebill storks suddenly so popular?" to /r/OutOfTheLoop, to which Redditor Supersace56 cited the Kemono Friends episode.Current Population Trend: Decreasing What is a shoebill?ĭepending on your perspective, a shoebill either has the same goofy charm as the long-lost dodo or it looks like it might go on the attack any moment. On April 4th, Redditor HopeSandoval posted a GIF of a shoebill bathing in a post titled "The Shoebill Stork is a living Pokemon" to /r/gifs, where it garnered more than 47,600 points (86% upvoted) and 1,400 comments within one week. On February 14th, 2017, the anime Kemono Friends aired an episode featuring an anthropomorphic shoebill character (shown below, right). ![]() On September 2nd, Joe Rogan posted a photograph of a shoebill on his Instagram page, describing it as "the freakiest" bird with "a death stare that makes you wonder what it would have been like to lock eyes with a velociraptor" (shown below, left). On August 8th, Imgur user Aivovuoto posted a gallery of shoebill photographs titled "This goofy-looking motherfucker here is the Shoebill." On July 23rd, Redditor ArkadiusBear uploaded a GIF of a shoebill fluttering its wings titled "The Shoebill stork is one sassy animal" to /r/gifs, where it gathered upwards of 11,500 points and 500 comments prior to being archived. On March 18th, the /r/shoebillstorks subreddit was launched. ![]() On March 2nd, 2016, the BBC Earth YouTube channel uploaded a clip of shoebill chicks aggressively fighting each other from the Planet Earth television series (shown below, right). On May 10th, 2015, YouTuber Ben Wright uploaded footage of a shoebill bowing with a man as a display of dominance (shown below, left). Prior to being archived, the post received more than 2,500 points (91% upvoted) and 300 comments on /r/funny. On March 27th, 2014, Redditor trick圓737 uploaded a GIF of shoebill turning to look at a camera titled "What the fuck did you say to me?" (shown below). One of the earliest known online discussions about the bird's strange appearance was launched in a Democratic Underground Forums thread titled "Behold! It's the ugly ass shoebilled stork thread!" submitted by user Guy Fawkes on March 16th, 2006 (shown below).
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