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. The shoebill stork will not threaten humans, but will only stare right back at them. Researchers studying these birds have been able to come within 6 feet of a shoebill stork on its nest. Shoebill storks are very docile with humans. Found in the marshes of East Africa, the shoebill is classified as vulnerable and is a bucket-list sighting for any avid birder. The shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) looks like it belongs in the prehistoric age. As birds evolved from their prehistoric cousins, they gave up their teeth-tipped snouts and developed beaks in their stead. They evolved from dinosaurs hundreds of millions of years ago. Yusuke Miyahara/FlickrThe shoebill looks prehistoric because, in part, it is. The main populations are found in southern Sudan (mainly in the White Nile Sudd), the wetlands of northern Uganda and western Tanzania and the Bangweulu swamp of northeastern Zambia. Shoebill or whale-headed storks are endemic to Africa and inhabit the east-central part of the continent. But when gazing at the shoebill, it appears that this bird’s evolution from its prehistoric relatives didn’t progress all that much. Shoebill, (Balaeniceps rex), also called shoe-billed stork or whale-headed stork, large African wading bird, a single species that constitutes the family Balaenicipitidae (order Balaenicipitiformes, Ciconiiformes, or Pelecaniformes).

Where are shoebills found?Įastern tropical Africa What did the shoebill stork evolve from?

Shoebill were previously thought of as storks, but genetic research has re-classified them as members of the order Pelecaniformes and family Balaenicipitidae, which are large waterbirds, genetically closer to pelicans and herons.

Shoebill stork related to dinosaurs