![]() Their usual fare includes several species of lungfish, Tilapia species, and catfish, as well as occasional frogs, lizards, water snakes, baby crocodiles and even rodents and smaller waterfowl. ![]() Unnoticed by their unlucky victim, the shoebill will then lunge onto the prey in a hunting technique called "collapsing," as described by National Geographic. Shoebills hunt by staying very still, keeping a watchful eye out for any prey. Stock image of a shoebill showing its massive wingspan. As mentioned above, the shoebill specializes in large prey, so they co-evolved themselves as well, becoming larger and larger. also, for moving in higher vegetation, and through reeds and papyrus, long legs are very helpful. Also, long thin legs could look like reeds, a strategy to trick prey into moving closer. "With long legs it allows the species to move into deeper water, thus avoiding competition with other species. "They have long legs, because like for example storks and herons, they sometimes wade through water to catch their prey," Ralf Mullers, an ecology lecturer at Van Hall Larenstein in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, told Newsweek. They are found across the swamps of tropical East Africa, ranging between South Sudan to Zambia. When their wings are fully extended, they can measure up to eight feet across. They stand between 3.5 and 5 feet tall, weigh between 11 and 13 pounds, and can live for up to 50 years in captivity. Shoebills, also known as the whalebill or by its scientific name Balaeniceps rex, are large water birds with huge paddle-like bills that open wide to reveal their huge mouths. iStock / Getty Images Plus / PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP via Getty Images) Shoebill Size and Height Two days later, Redditor Michaelgamesss submitted a post asking "Why are shoebill storks suddenly so popular?" to /r/OutOfTheLoop, to which Redditor Supersace56 cited the Kemono Friends episode.A shoebill in Pairi Daiza animal park in Brugelette, western Belgium, on Aug(left) and a stock image of a shoebill opening its wide mouth (right). ![]() On April 4th, Redditor HopeSandoval posted a GIF of a shoebill bathing in a post titled "The Shoebill Stork is a living Pokemon" to /r/gifs, where it garnered more than 47,600 points (86% upvoted) and 1,400 comments within one week. On February 14th, 2017, the anime Kemono Friends aired an episode featuring an anthropomorphic shoebill character (shown below, right). On September 2nd, Joe Rogan posted a photograph of a shoebill on his Instagram page, describing it as "the freakiest" bird with "a death stare that makes you wonder what it would have been like to lock eyes with a velociraptor" (shown below, left). On August 8th, Imgur user Aivovuoto posted a gallery of shoebill photographs titled "This goofy-looking motherfucker here is the Shoebill." On July 23rd, Redditor ArkadiusBear uploaded a GIF of a shoebill fluttering its wings titled "The Shoebill stork is one sassy animal" to /r/gifs, where it gathered upwards of 11,500 points and 500 comments prior to being archived. On March 18th, the /r/shoebillstorks subreddit was launched. On March 2nd, 2016, the BBC Earth YouTube channel uploaded a clip of shoebill chicks aggressively fighting each other from the Planet Earth television series (shown below, right). On May 10th, 2015, YouTuber Ben Wright uploaded footage of a shoebill bowing with a man as a display of dominance (shown below, left). Prior to being archived, the post received more than 2,500 points (91% upvoted) and 300 comments on /r/funny. On March 27th, 2014, Redditor trick圓737 uploaded a GIF of shoebill turning to look at a camera titled "What the fuck did you say to me?" (shown below). One of the earliest known online discussions about the bird's strange appearance was launched in a Democratic Underground Forums thread titled "Behold! It's the ugly ass shoebilled stork thread!" submitted by user Guy Fawkes on March 16th, 2006 (shown below).
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