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Name : Shoebill ( Balaeniceps king )
Where it live on : Marshes and swampland in East Africa
Although sometimes incorrectly referred to as a stork, the shoebill is actually the only member of the Balaeniceps genus and the wider family Balaenicipitidae.
What it eats : Fish and reptiles
Why it ’s awesome : This forbidding and prehistorical - looking bird can grow up to 5 feet ( 1.5 meters ) tall – and is outfit with a sharp - edged , 1 - foundation - long ( 0.3 measure ) bill — the third - largest bird neb in the existence .
Its giant invoice and long , weedy legs make it a formidable ambush predator — stand completely still before lunging forward to take hold of unsuspecting prey and swallow it whole .
A2015 studypublished in the Journal of African Ornithology found that catfish were its most common quarry , making up around 71 % of its meals . However , the shoebill is also known to banquet on eel , snake and even babe crocodile .
Shoebills are mostly solitary , but genteelness distich are monogamous andlay up to three nut in a clutch — though , due to contention between sibling , usually only one live on to adulthood . This is typically the orotund first - born , which either out - compete any sibling for food , or kills them .
relate : The snort that came back from the dead by acquire twice
The second or third biddy are basically spares that serve as a backup if the first does n’t survive .
This behavior was captured in a clip from the BBC David Attenborough series " Africa , " show the older chick biting at its younger sib . When the mother returns to the nest , it offers no care to the smaller issue .
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Although sometimes wrong referred to as a stork , the Balaeniceps rex is actually the only member of theBalaenicepsgenus and the wide of the mark family line Balaenicipitidae , with itsclosest living relativesbeing pelicans . Its ancestors from the Pelecaniformes order emerged at the end of theCretaceous period(145 million to 66 million class ago ) .
The large - charge bird islisted as vulnerableon the International Union for the Conservation of Nature ’s Red List , with just5,000 to 8,000 birdsleft .
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