| Actual Image
Shoebill (40)
sandpiper2
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1843 W: 109 N: 4257]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (14121) | Whilst in Singapore I took the opportunity of going to the famous Jurong Bird Park. They had just opened the African wetland exhibit and I was pleasantly astonished to find a Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex), a species I had always want to see.
Shoebills live in eastern central Africa , principally in the papyrus swamps of the vast wetland known as the Sudd in southern Sudan and northern Uganda. It also occurs in Zaire, Malawi, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia.
Shoebills are about 1.2m tall and the large bill is up to 19cm long and 15cm wide.
Although Shoebills look superficially like storks and herons, they appear to be more closely related to pelicans, based on DNA analysis. They are generally solitary and only come together to breed. Food is predominantly fish, which are taken by lunging forward to engulf the prey in its huge bill. Lungfish are the preferred prey, however water snakes, turtles, frogs and lizards are also taken occasionally.
Thanks for looking. |
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