It is mostly gray, with a white belly and black wingtips. The shoebill stork is a very large bird, with a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters (8 feet). Unfortunately, the younger chick only seems to be preferred by the mother if the older one doesn't survive. RT jamesjpdrake: Can you believe that this bird is 5ft tall and eats crocodiles The shoebill with the Darth Vader stare is found in Uganda - I advise you to stay well clear. The shoebill stork is a carnivore and it will eat just about anything it can catch, including baby crocodiles. The younger chick was forced out into the heat, and died slowly.”įor this reason, the mothers often end up raising only one chick. When the parent arrived it favoured the larger chick, shading it from the sun with its wings and giving it water from its bill. “It would drive its sibling over to the side of the nest. Instead of welcoming the second chick, it's common for the first-born to start a violent rivalry. “On several occasions the older chick attacked its younger sibling, drawing blood,” said BBC producer Alex Lanchester. So, the first-born chicks are much bigger than the younger siblings.

In The Strange Shoe - bill and its mate, The Giant Adjutant. They found that many of the nests had two chicks, which were often born about five days apart from each other. One characteristic tag read : The Desman species of the insect - eating Animals. Gharial also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile resting in water. Yet, one group of scientists were lucky enough to observe these young birds, and it wasn't as heartwarming as they imagined. Shoebill stork (Balaeniceps rex) in the swamps of Mabamba, Lake Victoria, Uganda. They attack at the baby crocodile swiftly when an opportunity presents itself and with its sharp and hard beak, once the prey is captured, it cannot escape. Shoebill birds are shy creatures, so it's rare to see the behaviors of chicks in the nest.

Shoebill eating crocodile