The color of the bill is yellowish with blotchy dark spots. It is an enormous structure ending in a sharp, curved hook. The bill is the most prominent feature of shoebill storks and resembles a wooden shoe.
A newly hatched shoebill stork is covered in silvery-grey silky down and juveniles are a slightly darker shade of grey than adults. On the back of the head is a small tuft of feathers that can erect in a crest. Adult breeding plumage does not differ from non-breeding plumage. The underparts are a lighter shade of grey. The primaries are black-tipped and secondaries have a greenish tint. The plumage is slaty blue-grey overall with a darker grey head. Males are larger than females and have longer bills. Large, somewhat frightful looking birds, shoebill storks stand 110 to 140 cm tall. This causes the fish living in the water to surface for air more often, increasing the likelihood a shoebill stork will successfully capture it. They are also found where there is poorly oxygenated water. When shoebill storks are in an area with deep water, a bed of floating vegetation is a requirement. They are often found in areas of flood plain interspersed with undisturbed papyrus and reedbeds. Shoebill storks inhabit freshwater swamps and extensive, dense marshes. This bird's range usually coincides with that of papyrus and lungfish. Smaller populations occupy eastern Zaire and Rwanda. The main populations are found in southern Sudan (mainly in the White Nile Sudd), the wetlands of northern Uganda and western Tanzania and the Bangweulu swamp of northeastern Zambia. While these birds are not remarkable for their grey color, they are quite remarkable and we should strive to safeguard their habitats so that they can continue their reign over the wetlands for many years to come.Shoebill or whale-headed storks are endemic to Africa and inhabit the east-central part of the continent. Males and females are both the same color, even the juveniles are grey. Shoebills stay the same color for life, a medium grey with flecks of black on the tips of some feathers. These birds specialize in watching and waiting for lungfish (yes they’re a thing) or frogs to surface for a breath in oxygen-poor water, at which point the birds snatch up their meal in a lightning fast grab with that strong crushing bill. Those territories always include large areas of wetlands where B-rex can hunt. They need to be able to call over long distances because these birds are typically solitary and defend large territories. So if you find yourself in the swamps of east Aftrica and hear something that sounds like gunfire, it might just be a B-rex caling for a mate or warning away a competitor. While shoebills have a syrinx (the bird equivalent of our voice box), they clap the upper and lower parts of their bill together rapidly to make a ‘machine gun’ sound that is very unique and carries quite far. They also use the large hollow bill as a resonator for sound, but their "call” might not be what you expect.
Shoebills keep their eggs cool by scooping their bills full of water and pouring it over the nest. That giant bill is the stork’s main tool for hunting, but it comes in handy for a number of other uses also. The shoebill is known to ornithologists as Balaenicps rex, or B-rex, meaning ‘the whale-headed king’, a reference to the bird’s most prominent feature. The Shoebill Stork, like all of our modern birds, is descended from a group of dinosaurs called theropods which included the Tyrannosaurus rex. A tall and terrifying bird, many people find the shoebill stork reminiscent of dinosaurs, and for good reason.