{"id":229138,"date":"2025-12-12T11:56:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/229138\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T11:56:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:56:07","slug":"dinosaur-like-shoebill-bird-stalks-devours-snake-in-uganda-swamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/229138\/","title":{"rendered":"Dinosaur-like shoebill bird stalks, devours snake in Uganda swamp"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dec. 11, 2025, 3:15 p.m. ET<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Last month we featured footage of an enormous, dinosaur-like shoebill\u00a0that had <a href=\"http:\/\/ftw.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/outdoors\/2025\/11\/10\/birders-in-awe-massive-shoebill-lands-on-tour-boat-uganda\/87196625007\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">landed on a tour boat<\/a> in Uganda and was photographed in a way that made the striking bird appear even larger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">\u201cWe were all shocked to see such a moment,\u201d Innocent the Guide, of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mabambatrips\/\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mabamba Trips<\/a>, told <a href=\"http:\/\/ftw.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/outdoors\/2025\/11\/30\/tour-guide-recalls-rare-encounter-giant-dinosaur-like-shoebill-bird-uganda\/87538038007\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FTW Outdoors<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s rare, once in a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" style=\"height:396px\" fetchpriority=\"high\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/87721201007-shoebill.jpeg\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Shoebill stares down snake before striking.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">While the footage showcased the shoebill\u2019s size and prehistoric-looking appearance \u2013 they can stand 5 feet and boast 8-foot wingspans \u2013 it did not reveal the shoebill\u2019s cunning predatory technique.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ftw.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/outdoors\/2025\/12\/04\/webcam-footage-ufo-like-objects-surf-spot-ventura-california\/87613519007\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ALSO: Webcam footage reveals mysterious objects in sky over California<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">More recently, I discovered the accompanying footage, which shows a Mabamba Swamp shoebill stalking, striking and gobbling a snake as though it were a mere worm. The footage was shared in September by Wild Uganda, with Mabamba Trips as a collaborator.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The description:\u00a0\u201cThe shoebill doesn\u2019t chase its prey \u2014 it waits like a statue. With deadly patience, it locks eyes on fish, baby crocodiles, or even snakes! Then in a flash it strikes with its massive beak \u2014 sometimes decapitating prey instantly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"gnt_em_ig_bl\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DOGZXM0Csm9\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" aria-label=\"view Instagram post: \"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Shoebills are listed as &#8220;vulnerable&#8221; throughout their range in tropical central-eastern Africa, with threats that include habitat loss, illegal pet trade, and general disturbance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The overall population is fewer than 8,000, so places such as Mabamba Swamp attract birders from around the world.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dec. 11, 2025, 3:15 p.m. ET Last month we featured footage of an enormous, dinosaur-like shoebill\u00a0that had landed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[273],"tags":[83944,18,19,17,133,102733,102734,100130,102736,102604,101139,86245,122662,100128,82884,461],"class_list":{"0":"post-229138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-sstssportsoutdoors","14":"tag-sstsnoutdoors","15":"tag-tagbiological-sciences","16":"tag-tagbird-watching-spots","17":"tag-tagbirds","18":"tag-tagonline-image-galleries","19":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","20":"tag-taguganda","21":"tag-tagwildlife","22":"tag-typestory","23":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115706474235726876","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}