How do shoebill parents stop their eggs from overheating?

They move them into the shade of a tree

Shoebill

Q: How to identify Shoebill?

Compare the silhouette, bill shape, tail length, wing bars and markings around the eyes. The same small brown bird at your feeder can look quite different in breeding plumage, winter plumage or its first year. Bird Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

Q: What does Shoebill eat?

This giant bird loves to gobble up fish and even small reptiles from muddy waters.

Q: Is a shoebill a stork?

No. It was once grouped with storks and is often called the shoebill stork, but it is the only member of its own family. Its closest living relatives are the hamerkop and the pelicans.

Q: Why does a shoebill stand still for so long?

It is hunting. It waits, sometimes for hours, for a fish such as a lungfish to come up for air, then lunges. In a study in Zambia, shoebills spent 85% of their time on low-energy things like standing still.

Q: What do shoebills eat?

Mainly big fish: catfish, lungfish, bichirs and tilapia. They also eat frogs, water snakes, Nile monitor lizards and baby crocodiles, and now and then turtles, rodents or carrion.

Q: Why do shoebills clatter their bills?

It is how they talk. Pairs clatter to greet each other, mostly around the nest, and even three-week-old chicks do it. Otherwise shoebills are usually silent.

Q: Are shoebills dangerous to people?

No. Their stare looks fierce, but they are calm around people, and researchers have watched nests from 2 m away. Keep your distance anyway: disturbance at nests is one reason many fail.

Q: Where can you see shoebills?

In big swamps of central and eastern Africa: South Sudan, Uganda, western Tanzania, eastern DR Congo, Rwanda and northern Zambia. A few zoos keep them too, but breeding them there is very rare.

Q: How long do shoebills live?

A long time. Zoo shoebills have lived about 36 years. How long wild birds live is not well known; sources give figures from about 25 to 35 years.

Q: How many shoebills are left?

About 3,300–5,300 adults, or roughly 5,000–8,000 birds in all. The species is listed as Vulnerable, and its numbers are falling.

Balaeniceps rex

The shoebill is a huge grey bird of the swamps of central and eastern Africa, from South Sudan to Zambia. It stands up to 1.4 m tall and has one of the biggest bills of any bird: wide, deep and shaped like a shoe, with a sharp hook at the tip. It hunts by standing still for a very long time, then lunging forward to grab lungfish, catfish and even baby crocodiles. It is usually silent, but pairs greet each other by clattering their bills. It has a family all of its own, and only a few thousand adults are left.

Also known as Shoebill Stork

Shoebill abilities

85% of its time spent standing still or preening
A shoebill can stand without moving for hours, staring at the water. Fish that come up for air do not notice the giant grey shape until it is too late.
- In a study in Zambia's Bangweulu Wetlands, shoebills spent 85% of their time on low-energy things, mostly standing still and preening.
- Hunting is slow work: the birds caught one prey animal every 8.3 hours on average.
- Shoebills like water with little oxygen in it, where fish have to come to the surface to breathe more often.
- They hunt alone. Even a pair feeds at opposite ends of its territory.
Sources [3, 4, 10]
< 1 s for the strike
When prey is in reach, the shoebill “collapses”: it lunges or falls forward onto the fish with its bill open, grabbing it in one huge scoop.
- The head and neck shoot forward and down into the water. The strike usually lasts less than a second.
- The bird ends up off balance and must stand up again before it can try another strike.
- Not every strike works. In Zambia, 5 of 7 strikes caught something in the breeding season, but only 16 of 70 at other times.
- Catfish were 71% of the prey caught in that study. Shoebills also take lungfish, bichirs, tilapia, frogs, water snakes and even baby crocodiles.
Sources [1, 2, 3, 5, 10]
10+ min to handle a big catch
The scoop brings up mud, water and plants as well as the fish. The shoebill shakes its head to get rid of the mess, then uses its sharp-edged bill to deal with the prey.
- Big prey is cut with the sharp edges of the bill before it is swallowed. Fish longer than about 60 cm are cut into pieces.
- Handling one big prey animal can take more than 10 minutes.
- In Bangweulu most fish it catches are 15–50 cm long. The biggest fish ever recorded for a shoebill, in Tanzania, was 99 cm.
- African fish eagles often steal its large catches.
Sources [1, 6]
3 weeks age chicks start clattering
Shoebills are usually silent, but they talk with their bills. They clap the two halves together very fast, making a loud rattle that people compare to a machine gun.
- Clattering happens mostly around the nest. Pairs use it to greet each other.
- Chicks practise it too: in a rearing centre in Zambia, chicks clattered at just three weeks old.
- In Zambia the shoebill's local name, mapumambao, means “the one who drums on wood”.
- Adults sometimes also moo like a cow or give high whines.
Sources [1, 4, 5, 6, 8]
≈30 days to hatch the eggs
Eggs can overheat in the hot sun. Shoebill parents fill their bills with water or wet grass, pour it over the nest and roll the eggs in it to keep them cool.
- The nest is a big, flat heap of swamp plants, 1–1.7 m across, on a small island or on floating vegetation.
- The female lays 1–3 white eggs, usually two, up to five days apart. Each egg weighs about 164 g, three times a hen's egg.
- Both parents keep the eggs warm for about 30 days. On hot days of 30–33 °C they water them.
- After hatching they keep going: nest cameras in Zambia showed parents leaving the nest mainly to fetch water to cool the chicks.
Sources [1, 4, 5, 11]
Hot swamp cooled by a vibrating throat
To stay cool in the tropical sun, a shoebill vibrates the skin and muscles of its throat. This is called gular fluttering, and it works a bit like a dog panting.
- Gular means “of the throat”. The fast vibrations help the body get rid of heat.
- Adults use it on hot days. Parents also cool their eggs and chicks with water carried in the bill.
- Shoebills live in open swamps, papyrus and reed beds, where there is often little shade.
Sources [2, 3, 5]
≈150 wingbeats a minute
With wings up to 2.6 m across, a shoebill flaps only about 150 times a minute, one of the slowest wingbeats of any bird. It flaps, glides, flaps and glides.
- The flapping and gliding come in turns of about 7 seconds each.
- In flight the neck is pulled back and the wings are held flat when it soars. It can rise on warm air above its territory.
- Shoebills do not migrate. When disturbed they usually fly only 100–500 m before landing again.
Sources [1, 4, 7]
1 chick usually raised per nest
Shoebills often hatch two chicks, but they rarely raise more than one. The second chick is thought to be a back-up, in case the first one dies.
- The eggs are laid days apart, so one chick is older and bigger. The older chick often attacks its weaker sibling, which is then left to die. This is called siblicide.
- When food is short, parents favour the eldest chick, so at least one survives.
- Conservationists in Zambia now take the second egg from known nests and raise the chick in a rearing centre, then release it.
- Parents bring food about 1.2 times a day. A chick weighs about 5.7 kg when it is ready to fly.
Sources [1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11]

Tap a pin on the model or a part below.

19–24 cm bill length (7.4–9.4 in)
- The bill is enormous, wide and deep, and shaped a bit like a wooden clog. It is about 9 cm wide.
- It is pale and pinkish-tan with grey blotches, and a ridge called a keel runs along the top.
- Among living birds, only two kinds have longer bills.
Sources [1, 3, 8]
Sharp edges and hooked nail
- The top half of the bill ends in a sharp nail that hooks down, like a pelican's.
- The hook stops slippery fish from escaping.
- The bill also has sharp edges. The shoebill uses them to cut up bigger prey before swallowing it.
Sources [1, 3, 6, 7]
Sight it hunts by looking, not touch
- Adult shoebills have pale yellow eyes. Some have striking pale blue eyes.
- It finds its food by sight alone. It is not known to feel for prey with its bill.
- Sharp eyes let it spot small movements in murky water.
Sources [1, 3, 7, 8]
Small feathered crest
- A small tuft of feathers sticks up at the back of the big head.
- The head is a slightly darker grey than the body.
- The scientific name Balaeniceps means “whale head”.
Sources [1, 2, 3]
Flutter throat vibrates to lose heat
- Swamps in tropical Africa get hot. Shoebills keep cool by gular fluttering: quickly vibrating the skin and muscles of the throat.
- It works a bit like a dog panting.
- Begging chicks make a sound very like human hiccups.
Sources [1, 2, 3]
4–7 kg weight (9–15 lb)
- Adults are slaty blue-grey, a little paler underneath, with darker flight feathers.
- Young shoebills are a darker grey with a brownish tinge.
- Males are bigger than females, about 5.6 kg against 4.9 kg on average, and have longer bills.
Sources [1, 2]
2.3–2.6 m wingspan (7.5–8.5 ft)
- The wings are huge and broad, wider than a tall man is high.
- It flies with slow flaps and long glides, and can soar on rising warm air.
- In flight it pulls its neck back and rests its heavy head on its body.
Sources [1, 4, 7]
22–25.5 cm lower leg bone (tarsus)
- The legs are long, thin and dark.
- Long legs let it wade in shallow water among tall swamp plants, where it hides while it hunts.
- Standing up, a shoebill is 110–140 cm tall, about as tall as a 9-year-old.
Sources [1, 3, 4]
17–18.5 cm middle toe
- The feet are very large: the middle toe alone is 17–18.5 cm long.
- Long, spread-out toes share the bird's weight, so it can stand on floating plants.
- They also help it walk quietly through the swamp without being noticed.
Sources [1, 3, 7]

Real shoebills

Photos from Wikimedia Commons, most of them taken in Uganda's swamps. Pick a look to repaint the 3D model.

Adult shoebillSlaty blue-grey, paler below, with darker flight feathers, a small tuft on the head, pale eyes and a huge blotched, hooked bill. Males and females look alike; males are a little bigger with longer bills.Vulnerable; about 3,300–5,300 adults leftAn adult in Uganda: blue-grey feathers, a pale eye and that enormous bill. Photo: flowcomm, CC BY 2.0
Head-on: the wide bill and the famous starePhoto: flowcomm, CC BY 2.0
Bill slightly open: sharp edges, grey blotches and the hooked nail at the tipPhoto: Hjalmar Gislason from Reykjavik, Iceland, CC BY 2.0
The bill rests on the chest, and a small tuft sticks up at the back of the headPhoto: Eric Inafuku, CC BY 2.0
Catch of the day: a big catfish, the shoebill's most common prey in ZambiaPhoto: Jakub Bartler, CC BY-SA 4.0
Parent with chickNewly hatched chicks are covered in silvery-grey down. Their bill starts small and pale and grows over the first weeks.Feathered at about 60 days, flying at about 105–112 daysA parent with its downy grey chick on the nest. Photo: Ludu57, CC BY 4.0
Taking off at Lake Albert, Uganda: wings well over 2 m acrossPhoto: Johannes Bahrdt, CC BY-SA 4.0
Soaring over Murchison Falls, Uganda, with the neck pulled in and the wings held flatPhoto: Tom Tarrant, CC BY-SA 3.0
At home among papyrus at Mabamba Bay, UgandaPhoto: Z thomas, CC BY 4.0
Alone and still in the Mabamba swamp: shoebills hunt by themselvesPhoto: Sjoerdug, CC BY-SA 4.0

Shoebill by the numbers

Figures from wildlife guides, zoos, conservation groups and field studies in Zambia.

Height: 110–140 cm; 43–55 in; a few reach 152 cm⁠[1, 2]
Wingspan: 2.3–2.6 m; 7.5–8.5 ft⁠[1, 18]; Shoebill (max)2.6 mGoliath heron (max)2.3 m
Weight: 4–7 kg; males ≈ 5.6 kg, females ≈ 4.9 kg; About as heavy as a large house cat⁠[1, 3]
Bill length: 19–24 cm; 7.4–9.4 in; males' bills are longer⁠[1, 2, 5]
Bill width: ≈9 cm; about 3.5 in⁠[8]
Middle toe: 17–18.5 cm; 6.6–7.3 in⁠[1]
Eggs: 1–3; white; usually 2⁠[1, 2, 5]
Incubation: ≈30 days; both parents take turns⁠[1, 2, 5]
First flight: ≈105 days; flying well by about 112 days⁠[1, 2]
Adults left: 3,300–5,300; about 5,000–8,000 birds in all⁠[3, 13, 1, 12]

Shoebill myths and facts

Tap Myth or Fact for each claim, then check the answer.

0 of 8 answered

“The shoebill is a kind of stork.”
“A shoebill can stand still for hours.”
“Shoebills sometimes eat baby crocodiles.”
“Shoebills can moo like a cow.”
“Shoebills find fish by feeling for them in the mud.”
“Shoebill parents usually raise two chicks.”
“Shoebills flap their wings fast, like ducks.”
“Shoebills attack people who come near.”

A shoebill's life

From an egg on a floating nest to a grown-up swamp giant.

End of the rainy season
Building the nest
As the water starts to drop, a pair tramples an area about 3 m across and both build a flat nest of swamp plants on floating vegetation or a small island.⁠[5, 1, 2]
Day 0
Eggs
The female lays 1–3 white eggs, usually two, up to five days apart.⁠[1, 5]
Next 30 days
Keeping cool
Both parents keep the eggs warm, turn them, and pour water over them on hot days.⁠[1, 3, 4]
Hatching
A fluffy grey chick
The chick is covered in silvery-grey down and has a small, pale bill. The older chick usually gets most of the food.⁠[2, 3, 8]
3 weeks old
First clatters
Chicks start clapping their bills, practising the shoebill way of talking.⁠[8, 5]
About 2 months
Proper feathers
By about 60 days the chick's feathers have fully grown in.⁠[2]
About 105–112 days
First flights
The young bird leaves the nest at about 105 days and is flying well by 112. Its parents may still feed it for a month or more.⁠[1, 2]
About 3 years
Grown up
Shoebills are ready to breed at about three years old, and pairs stay together.⁠[1, 3]

Shoebill vs marabou stork, Goliath heron and hamerkop

Three big African wetland birds people mix up with the shoebill, and its small closest relative.

Shoebill vs marabou stork vs Goliath heron vs hamerkop
	Shoebill	Marabou stork	Goliath heron	Hamerkop
Scientific name⁠[1, 17, 18, 16]	Balaeniceps rex	Leptoptilos crumenifer	Ardea goliath	Scopus umbretta
Family⁠[12, 17, 18, 16]	Its own family (only member)	Storks	Herons	Its own family (only member)
Height⁠[1, 17, 18, 16]	110–140 cm	Up to about 152 cm	120–152 cm	About 56 cm
Weight⁠[1, 17, 18, 16]	4–7 kg	4.5–8 kg	4–5 kg	About 470 g
Look⁠[1, 17, 18, 16]	Blue-grey, huge shoe-shaped bill with a hook	Bare head and neck, black back, white below, pink throat pouch	Grey and chestnut, chestnut head and neck	Brown, with a crest that makes the head look like a hammer
IUCN status⁠[14, 17, 18, 16]	Vulnerable	Least Concern	Least Concern	Least Concern

Only the shoebill has the huge, wide bill with a hook. The hamerkop is its closest living relative but is much smaller, with a thin bill.

Shoebill names

A bird this odd has collected a lot of names.

Balaeniceps rex
John Gould named it in 1850 from a skin collected on the upper White Nile. Balaeniceps comes from Latin words for “whale” and “head”.⁠[1]
Whalehead, whalebill, whale-headed stork
Old English names that, like the scientific name, compare its huge head and bill to a whale's.⁠[1]
Abu markub
An Arabic name, reported to mean “father of a slipper”.⁠[6]
Mapumambao
Its local name in Zambia: “the one who drums on wood”, after the clattering bill.⁠[8]
“Shoebill stork”
A common name, but not quite right: the shoebill is not a true stork.⁠[1, 3]

Is the shoebill endangered?

It is listed as Vulnerable, one step away from Endangered. Only a few thousand adults are left, and their number is going down.

IUCN Red List

Vulnerable (VU)

Population decreasing

About 3,300–5,300 adults, or roughly 5,000–8,000 birds in all, live in swamps from South Sudan to Zambia. The number is falling because of hunting, nest disturbance and the draining and burning of their swamps.⁠[14, 1, 3, 12, 13, 15, 19]

IUCN Red List: Vulnerable (assessed 2018)

Threats

Swamps burned and cleared
Swamps are drained, burned and turned into farmland and cattle pasture. Cattle can trample nests.⁠[1, 3, 12]
Chicks taken for trade
Eggs and chicks are taken from nests to be eaten or sold as pets. In 2011, only about 20% of 10 nests watched in Zambia's Bangweulu Wetlands raised a chick, mainly because of people.⁠[1, 9, 11, 7]
Hunting
Shoebills are hunted for food in some places, and in others because people see them as a bad omen.⁠[3]
Pollution
Pollution from the oil industry and from tanneries affects some of their wetlands.⁠[3]

What’s helping

Nest guardians
Since 2012, local people in Bangweulu, many of them fishermen, have been paid to guard shoebill nests day and night from June to November.⁠[8, 9]
More chicks when nests are guarded
With nests protected in 2012–2013, pairs raised about 0.89 chicks per nest, far more than the year before.⁠[11]
Puppet parents
A rearing centre opened in Bangweulu in May 2022. Carers raise the back-up chicks using shoebill hand puppets made by a Muppets puppeteer, then release them.⁠[8, 20]
Trade controls
The shoebill is on Appendix II of CITES, so international trade in it needs a permit.⁠[1, 2, 5]

Big wetland neighbours

HamerkopLeast Concern
Its small closest relative, common across Africa, famous for its huge roofed nest.⁠[16]
Goliath heronLeast Concern
The world's largest living heron, often in the same swamps.⁠[18]
Marabou storkLeast Concern
A true stork and a scavenger, often found near towns and rubbish dumps.⁠[17]

Shoebill quiz

Twelve questions. Every answer is somewhere on this page.

Question 1 of 12Score 0

What does the shoebill's bill look like?

Shoebill field notes

Diet, food web, safety and badges from the Snappit field guide.

Diet & Feeding

This giant bird loves to gobble up fish and even small reptiles from muddy waters.

Primary Foods

African lungfish
Catfish
Tilapia
Eels
Water snakes
Frogs
Foraging Method: Ambush

Ecological connections

African LungfishHunts
A primary food source in its swamp habitat.
African Sharptooth CatfishEats
A common, large fish species hunted by shoebills.
Nile MonitorEaten by
Preys on shoebill eggs and chicks in the nest.
PapyrusDepends on
Provides crucial nesting material and hunting cover.

Safety

Danger 2/5 · Low

Always observe wild birds from a distance and do not try to touch them.

Traits

Collections

Birds

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Balaenicipitidae
Genus: Balaeniceps

Sources for these shoebill facts

20 studies and references · checked Oct 28, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How to identify Shoebill?

Compare the silhouette, bill shape, tail length, wing bars and markings around the eyes. The same small brown bird at your feeder can look quite different in breeding plumage, winter plumage or its first year. Bird Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

How long is Shoebill?

110-140 cm

What is Shoebill's wingspan?

230-260 cm

How much does Shoebill weigh?

4-7 kg

How long does Shoebill live?

30-50 years

How fast can Shoebill move?

35 km/h

What does Shoebill eat?

This giant bird loves to gobble up fish and even small reptiles from muddy waters.

Where is Shoebill usually found?

Wetlands

Is a shoebill a stork?

No. It was once grouped with storks and is often called the shoebill stork, but it is the only member of its own family. Its closest living relatives are the hamerkop and the pelicans.

Why does a shoebill stand still for so long?

It is hunting. It waits, sometimes for hours, for a fish such as a lungfish to come up for air, then lunges. In a study in Zambia, shoebills spent 85% of their time on low-energy things like standing still.

What do shoebills eat?

Mainly big fish: catfish, lungfish, bichirs and tilapia. They also eat frogs, water snakes, Nile monitor lizards and baby crocodiles, and now and then turtles, rodents or carrion.

Why do shoebills clatter their bills?

It is how they talk. Pairs clatter to greet each other, mostly around the nest, and even three-week-old chicks do it. Otherwise shoebills are usually silent.

Are shoebills dangerous to people?

No. Their stare looks fierce, but they are calm around people, and researchers have watched nests from 2 m away. Keep your distance anyway: disturbance at nests is one reason many fail.

Where can you see shoebills?

In big swamps of central and eastern Africa: South Sudan, Uganda, western Tanzania, eastern DR Congo, Rwanda and northern Zambia. A few zoos keep them too, but breeding them there is very rare.

How long do shoebills live?

A long time. Zoo shoebills have lived about 36 years. How long wild birds live is not well known; sources give figures from about 25 to 35 years.

How many shoebills are left?

About 3,300–5,300 adults, or roughly 5,000–8,000 birds in all. The species is listed as Vulnerable, and its numbers are falling.