Last November we featured an extraordinary image showing a dinosaur-like shoebill that had landed on a bird-watching boat, seemingly dwarfing tourists in the background.
“We were all shocked to see such a moment,” Innocent the Guide, of Mabamba Trips in Uganda, told FTW Outdoors. “It’s rare, once in a lifetime.”
The angle at which the image was captured made the shoebill, perhaps 4 feet tall, appear even larger.
‘Prehistoric’ shoebill bird lands on boat.
But shoebills, named for the shape of their razor-sharp bills, are sought by birders for reasons beyond their physical stature and prehistoric appearance.
They’re a “Vulnerable” species, with as few as 5,000 remaining in their range in the swamps of east and central Africa.
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They’re impressive to watch because of the stationary manner by which they hunt, before striking prey (from fish and snakes, to baby crocodiles) with deadly precision.
While our post contained only the striking image of the shoebill on a boat, below is more recent footage captured by Trygve Løge, a zookeeper in Norway, during his expedition to Mabamba Swamp.
The footage provides an up-close look of a large shoebill’s alert presence and intense gaze. Løge stated via Instagram: “Deep in the swamps of Entebbe you can find the Shoebill, endemic to wetlands in eastern and central Africa. Doesn’t get more prehistoric looking than this!”
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Dinosaur-like shoebill strikes magnificent pose for Uganda tourist