Mabamba Swamp is easily accessed from Entebbe using a traditional motorised canoe.

Seated on the mighty Lake Victoria – the world’s second-largest lake after lake Superior, Mabamba Swamp is home to the vulnerable shoebill Stork. Read More about Shoebill Tracking In Murchison Falls National Park. If booked with Realm Africa Safaris, we take care of all this! A packed lunch is recommended, and your guide must be informed to wait for you at the delta area. ** Taking a boat safari (one way) requires proper planning. Alternatively, one can opt to take the boat trip one way to track the shoebill, and later join a guide on a game drive through the savannah plains of the gigantic Murchison Falls National Park. Shoebill Tracking in Murchison Falls National Park is best done on a boat Safari down Stream. While the delta area is popular for shoebill Tracking, it is also home to a variety of other beautiful Ugandan birds. Shoebill Tracking In Murchison Falls National Park is done at the Delta area – a spot where the Nile divides into Lake Albert and the Albert Nile – which continues further north through Sudan into the Mediterranean sea. The Top Nine (09) Shoebill tracking Locations In Uganda Although their body and wings are shaped somewhat like a condor, shoebills are not related to this type of bird. They have a large wingspan meant for soaring and short necks, unlike their stork and pelican relatives. All shoebill birds have massive shoe-like bills and feature grey plumage that is brown when they’re younger.

Male shoebill birds usually weigh around 12 pounds (±5 Kgs) and are a little bit heavier than female shoebills, but not by much. The shoebill usually comes in between 40 and 50 inches, although it may be slightly larger than this depending on the individual bird. Shoebills lay eggs similar to pelicans and also share DNA similarities with the Pelican. The shoebill has for a long time been mislabeled as a stork until recently when it was reclassified as a Pelican. The shoebill is an elusive prehistoric bird whose history traces back to the dinosaur times. Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in EntebbeĮven for those not so interested in Birds, spotting the shoebill while on safari in Uganda makes for a memorable experience.Ishasha Sector (Queen Elizabeth National Park).The Top Nine (09) Places to see Shoebills in Uganda Include: Shoebill Tracking In Uganda can be done in nine (09) different locations within Uganda. 14 Days Honeymoon in Tanzania & Zanzibar.9 Days Gorillas In Rwanda & the BIG 5 Tanzania.Lewa Conservancy - Big 5 Safari in Kenya.Murchison Falls NP - Wildlife Safari in Uganda.© 2016 Tune In to November 2016 Narrator: Mary McCannĬURWOOD: Swoop on over to our website, LOE.org, for some pictures. XC320901 ambient sounds recorded by James Bradley, Kenyan Swamp setting.īirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler. Shoebills are notably less numerous than pelicans, though, with only 8,000 surviving in the wild.īird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. But DNA analysis showed that it’s more closely related to pelicans - another group of birds whose oversized beaks are truly awe-inspiring. The Shoebill’s physical resemblance to the stork gave it its early name, the Whale-headed Stork. Shoebills resemble storks, but are more closely related to pelicans. Which Shoebills hunt in the shallows, often standing completely motionless before they strike. The edges are sharp enough to behead its prey, which include catfish with hard bony heads as well as lungfish, snakes, and even baby crocodiles. But although the Shoebill looks like it walked right out of a cartoon, its beak is no joke. So named because that comically large bill is, yellow-orange, and shaped like an oversized Dutch wooden shoe. Meet the Shoebill, a bird unknown to science until the 19th Century, and the only living member of its family. But instead of the stork’s long, tapered bill, substitute a prodigious, stout bill that’s hooked at the tip – and that gives this bird its name. Picture a massive, blue-gray stork, standing up to five feet tall on long, gray legs. MCCANN: Deep in the dense, remote swamps of Central Africa lives one of the most peculiar looking of all birds. And periodically, as Mary McCann points out in today's BirdNote®, there are birds that are – well – downright weird. CURWOOD: Birds come in all shapes and sizes, with feathers drab or colorful – and voices melodious or grating.

Shoebill pelican