Day 3804: Shoebill and Family.

 

"Relentless": junk mail collage, digital.

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2GN2S ...

I have done the "just because" series for so long now that I have met some great looking birds. My all time favorite is the Shoebill Stork! 

 

 

First, his looks, kind of regal in a prehistoric way.

 

Then he has the most delicious shades of grey in the pattern of his exquisite feathers. These birds are mainly silent. Shoebills sometimes engage in bill-clattering, a sound made as a greeting and during nesting. They keep cool with a technique called gular fluttering—vibrating the throat muscles to dissipate heat. 

 

 

Third, his legs are so thin for his body and he brings his knees up high as he walks. They do share traits with storks and herons, like the long necks and legs characteristic of wading birds, though their closest relatives are the pelicans.

 

 

Aptly named Shoebill ( Balaeniceps rex) so unique is its foot-long bill that resembles a Dutch clog. Tan with brown splotches, it's five inches wide and has sharp edges and a sharp hook on the end. Its specialized bill allows the shoebill to grab large prey, including lungfish, tilapia, eels, and snakes. It even snacks on baby crocodiles and Nile monitor lizards.

 

 

Reaching up to five feet tall with an eight-foot wingspan, shoebills have yellow eyes, gray feathers, white bellies, and a small feathered crest on the back of their heads. They also have long, thin legs with large feet that are ideal for walking on the vegetation in the freshwater marshes and swamps they inhabit in East Africa, from Ethiopia and South Sudan to Zambia.

 

Shoebills are carnivores with an average 35 year lifespan, but 50 years when in captivity.  The International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that there are only between 3,300 and 5,300 adult shoebills left in the world, and the population is going down. As land is cleared for pasture, habitat loss is a major threat

 

WonderWoman  drove into SoCal today. 

It was a girls trip as she brought my granddog, Zoey.

 

Just here for a couple of days, we went to Ponzu for dinner with Grandhunks, 2 & 3 aka Jake and Zack.

 

to be continued ...

 

 

 

A 3-minute video, Shoebill Stork, here.

 

Just because ...

 

 

 

 

Shoebill Stork

 

 

Smiles for Wednesday ...

 

  

 

 

 

   

    

  

  

 

 

                             Thanks for coming by today