Since last November, when a dinosaur-like shoebill landed on a tour boat in Uganda and appeared to dwarf observers, tourism involving the swamp birds spiked because of publicity generated by the imagery.
Mabamba Swamp, on Lake Victoria, is a premier destination for birders seeking to add shoebills to their life lists, in part because the shoebill population is shrinking and their survival in the wild is not assured.
Shoebill attempting to communicate.
Innocent the Guide, of Mabamba Trips, refers to shoebills as gorillas of the wetlands and explained to FTW Outdoors: “Most tourists used to come to Uganda for gorillas only, and now the shoebill is competing.”
Last week, Mabamba Trips captured footage of a shoebill attempting to communicate by clapping its bill “like a machine gun.” It’s an interesting behavior, considering that a shoebill’s bill, shaped like a shoe, can measure 12 inches. (Note the hollow sound the clapping produces in the footage posted below.)
African Parks stated that in Zambia, the local name for shoebill is mapumambao, translating to “The one who drums on wood.”
To witness this is somewhat rare in that most encounters feature shoebills standing motionless in a hunting pose, ready to strike and incapacitate prey with their razor-sharp bills.
In December, Mabamba Trips captured footage of a shoebill stalking and slurping a snake in Mabamba Swamp.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Giant ‘dinosaur bird’ tries to communicate in rare Uganda encounter