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It is well known that the continent of Africa is home to some amazing and charismatic animals that capture the imagination and fill your heart with wonder. Our next coin introduces one of the most fascinating and charming African animals: The Shoebill, species name Balaeniceps rex.
The Shoebill is one of those birds that even people who still have no idea that birds are living dinosaurs look at and say things like “That bird looks like a dinosaur!”. Of course the Shoebill looks like a dinosaur because that’s exactly what it is. The Shoebill is a very large modern dinosaur, reaching heights of up to 5 feet with a 7 to 8’6” wingspan and a weight range of 12 to 16 pounds. Shoebills are covered in slaty-blue grey feathers with light yellow eyes and grey to brown legs. Males and females look exactly the same and have the same height and wingspan dimensions, though male Shoebills on average weigh about a half pound to a pound more than females. The most conspicuous feature of the Shoebill is its large, robust and unique beak. The beak of a Shoebill is kind of a tan or peach color with grey markings and it is the third largest beak among living birds. Despite their appearance and the now outdated name “Shoebill Stork”, Shoebills are not storks. Rather, they are relatives of Pelicans and are members of the Pelecaniformes. Like Pelicans and unlike Storks aside from the Marabou Stork and its relatives, Shoebills fly with their necks retracted. Geographically, Shoebills live in swamplands and other wetlands in eastern Africa from Sudan in the north to Zambia in the south.
As far as feeding goes, Shoebills are predators who mainly eat fish but they will also eat juvenile crocodiles, snakes, snails, turtles, worms, small mammals and smaller water birds if they can’t get fish. There are also reports of Shoebills preying on antelope calves. The Shoebill is a sight-based hunter who hunts by lurking and standing perfectly still until an unsuspecting fish swims near the surface. For this reason, Shoebills favor poorly oxygenated waters, where fish will have to surface to gulp oxygen from the air, increasing the Shoebill’s chance for success in capturing prey. Once a Shoebill sights a prey animal and the prey animal comes near the surface, the Shoebill will strike and get a mouthful of water, vegetation and, hopefully, its prey. Here’s where the Shoebill’s unique beak serves its evolutionary purpose. First, the bill allows the Shoebill to filter out the water and the vegetation, which is of no nutritional value and likely indigestible to the carnivorous Shoebill, while keeping the prey in the Shoebill’s mouth. Then the Shoebill will use its beak, which is immensely strong and razor sharp, to decapitate its prey to instantly kill it before the Shoebill swallows it whole. Shoebills can consume animals as long as 2 feet and of a weight of up to 2 pounds in a single gulp. Shoebills are some of the most successful predators in the world as over 66% of their attacks result in a kill and, thusly, a meal.
Like many other theropods, Shoebills mate for life. However, the Shoebill is a largely solitary bird and mated pairs will feed and live on opposite sides of their shared territories for most of the year. Shoebills are almost never found in groups. The pairs come together at the end of the wet season in order to begin nesting. The nest is constructed by both the male and female on a floating platform, which is also constructed by the Shoebill pair out of aquatic vegetation. A Shoebill pair will produce from one to three eggs, which both parents incubate for approximately 30 days. Shoebill chicks are highly siblicidal, so even if more than one egg is produced, only one chick typically survives. Shoebill parents will douse both the eggs and the chicks with mouthfuls of water to keep them cool and the young are fed entirely on fish brought to them by both parents. Young Shoebills fledge at 105 days of age and they are typically able to fly well at 112 days of age, though they will continue to be fed by the parents for about a month past this age. After that point, the young Shoebill goes out on its own to establish its own territory, and upon reaching sexual maturity at the age of 3 years, find a mate. Shoebills live for 36 years in the wild and up to 65 years in captivity, making them one of the longest lived of all birds.
Shoebills are large and powerful birds which have no real predators but they do have one natural enemy: the notoriously nasty Marabou Stork. Marabous and Shoebills share the same wetland habitats and Marabou Storks are the only real threat to the eggs and young of Shoebills, and Shoebills know this. The two species often show aggression toward one another, and fights between these two large and powerful modern theropods are quite a spectacle to witness. Oddly enough, these fights very rarely result in injury to either the Marabou Stork or the Shoebill as Shoebills are the one animal that Marabou Storks are relatively quick to flee from. This is likely because of the strength of the Shoebill and the sharpness and strength of the Shoebill’s beak. If pushed too far, there is a very real possibility that the Shoebill could break the Marabou Stork’s legs or beak, which would likely end up being fatal to the Marabou Stork as it would then be unable to feed itself. Marabou Storks are far from stupid, and they know that unless they can get the upper hand over a Shoebill quickly, they never will. But, being the highly vicious and opportunistic predators that Marabou Storks are, they still have to try.
Though Shoebills are vicious and efficient hunters and are aggressive toward Marabou Storks, they are largely gentle giants to most other life forms unlike the Marabou Stork. Once acclimated to humans, Shoebills will get to know their keepers and they do bond with them. They will also allow themselves to be petted and hand fed. There is one famous Shoebill named Sushi who is 30 years old and lives at the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre in the African nation of Uganda. He will allow any person who wants to interact with him and pet him to do so, provided they bow to him first. Sushi will then bow back and allow the person to interact with him. This bowing is a common greeting among Shoebills with members of their own species. Shoebills are very popular in zoos due to their prehistoric appearance and their gentle nature.
Sadly, though the Shoebill only has the Marabou Stork as a natural enemy, they are classified as Endangered by the IUCN. There are approximately 5,000 to 8,000 Shoebills in the wild and the main threat is, as is the case with most endangered birds, habitat loss. Thankfully, the Shoebill is an important member of Africa’s charismatic megafauna and they draw in large amounts of tourist money. The Shoebill is considered Africa’s most desirable bird and they are a major ecotourism draw. There are many programs in place in the countries that the Shoebill calls home to protect Shoebills and their habitats, which in turn helps all of the other animals that share that habitat. Thankfully, these measures are working and Shoebills are recovering as are many of their wetland habitat neighbors. The Shoebill is an excellent example of the following quote from Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, a Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University in action: “If you take care of the birds, you take care of most of the big problems in the world”. Words to remember and live by.
The coin that represents the Shoebill is an important one as well. This coin was in my girlfriend’s collection for several years, and I’ve always admired it, especially since Shoebills are a favorite of mine. I’ve tried to find one for this set, but this really is a tough coin to find nice as, for some reason, this issue is prone to milk spotting. Recently, she was going through her coins as she’s planning a new project and came upon this coin and decided it belonged with me and offered to give it to me. I told her I appreciated the gift and I loved the coin, but since it was a scarce coin in excellent grade, I couldn’t just take it. She let me pay her a fair price for the coin and I’m so pleased to have it here in the set!!