![]() Shoebills do have strong stomachs and can wolf down just about any animal. That’s not to say that large antelope and crocodiles are part of their everyday diet. Wondering what do shoebills eat? While they are known as the bird that eats crocodiles, there is much more to the shoebill stork diet. But even just to suggest such a thing is an indication of how successful these birds can be. Baby red lechwe only weigh a few kilograms, and they may end up wading straight into a shoebill trap.ĭo note that these shoebill versus red lechwe reports are unconfirmed. They will use the water to stay clear of predators. Shoebills have also been known to hunt and kill red lechwe, a semi-aquatic antelope that lives in the swamps of Botswana and Zambia.įully-grown red lechwe weigh over 100 kg. A baby Nile crocodile isn’t even a challenge for these hunting birds. The remarkable thing is that crocodiles aren’t even the largest of their prey. Shoebill stork eating crocodile? While hard to believe, it is true. Shoebill Eating Crocodile? Yes, It’s True With a wingspan of over 2 ½ meters, the shoebill can fly effortlessly across the African skies, although it doesn’t tend to fly very far. Swans are scary enough, and they don’t have a razor-like beak. Males hit the scales at a solid 5-6 kg, with the biggest individuals coming in at over 7 kg (15 lb).įemales are only slightly smaller, and really, a bird that big is always going to be unpredictable. Measure from the bill to the beak and that’s also a good 1.3 meters. Shoebills measure over a meter in height, and most mature specimens reach 1.3 meters. Shoebill Stork Size (They’re Enormous)īefore questioning the crocodile diet you need to understand just how big these birds are. Interested in learning about another not-so-pretty bird?Ĭheck out these interesting facts about the marabou stork. To learn more about the shoebill, here are 17 amazing facts. This is probably the most bizarre bird in the world. They also look like some kind of prehistoric leftover, with a jagged shoe-shaped bill that seems to come from fiction. Not only that, shoebills make a noise that sounds like a machine gun on auto fire. Yep, it is true that this African bird hunts crocodiles, along with other animals like snakes and monitor lizards. For now though, African Parks, Bangweulu Wetlands and ZAWA have done a great job in protecting the species and its habitats, and tourism revenue is used to pay local fishermen to act as shoebill guards, preventing chicks from being stolen and sold.The shoebill is so badass that it eats crocodiles. Shoebills do, after all, hatch two chicks, and the species is threatened. Understanding the behaviour of Kapotwe is vital for planning successful chick-rearing strategies in the future, should these ever become necessary. Tourists have seen her, and she will be monitored into the future to determine whether her imprinting was severe enough to stop her breeding with other shoebills. ![]() Apart from a run-in with a fishing line (fortunately no serious injury, despite having swallowed a hooked catfish) and a well-meaning fisherman capturing our ‘escaped’ shoebill, she has been coping quite well in the wild. As the water dried on the plain, she followed the water levels into the Lukulu Delta, where she remains. Kapotwe eventually learned to forage on her own, hunting fish on the floodplain and in the pool in front of the research station. Kapotwe reaching her full adult plumage, with a nice little ‘crown’- truly king of the swamps! ![]()
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