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Shoebill — printable fact sheet
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Animal Fact Sheet
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Shoebill
Balaeniceps rex
The shoebill hunts by doing nothing. It will stand motionless in papyrus swamp for hours — so still that people routinely mistake it for a statue — waiting for a lungfish to surface for air in the oxygen-poor water it deliberately favours, precisely because that water forces the…
Did you know?
- Shoebills can make a sound called a 'bill clap,' which is reminiscent of a machine gun and is used to communicate, especially during the breeding season.
- A shoebill can stand motionless for hours, waiting for a lungfish to surface for air. It needs no speed — just one accurate lunge, and the hooked bill decapitates the prey. It has the widest bill relative to head size of any bird. Mostly silent, it greets by clattering its bill like a machine gun.
What I learned
Draw the shoebill
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