{"id":646174,"date":"2026-03-10T18:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/646174\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T18:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:39:11","slug":"giant-dinosaur-like-shoebill-soars-toward-tourist-in-uganda-swamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/646174\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant dinosaur-like shoebill soars toward tourist in Uganda swamp"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>March 9, 2026Updated March 10, 2026, 10:11 a.m. ET<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Excursions to Uganda in search of prehistoric-looking shoebills can involve hours of trudging in swamps in the hope of a once-in-a-lifetime sighting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Goncalo Garcia can attest to this, having recently concluded a trip to Mabamba Swamp with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ugandashoebill.com\/\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Uganda Shoebill<\/a> guide service.<\/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\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/89060723007-shoebill.jpeg\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Prehistoric-looking shoebill in flight.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The top image was captured by Garcia toward the end of a trip in which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mabambatrips\/\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Innocent Muhumuza<\/a> and a fellow guide worked tirelessly to locate a shoebill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;It was probably Innocent\u2019s most difficult search for a shoebill,\u201d Garcia told FTW Outdoors. &#8220;Innocent and his colleague pushed the boat by hand for 2 hours and 30 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ftw.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/outdoors\/2025\/12\/11\/dinosaur-shoebill-bird-stalks-devours-snake-uganda-swamp\/87721050007\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">RELATED: Massive &#8216;dinosaur bird&#8217; stalks, devours snake in Uganda swamp<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">When they finally spotted a shoebill, branches obscured Garcia\u2019s view until the shoebill decided to relocate. \u201cFinally, it took off and we were able to take this photo,\u201d Garcia said. &#8220;It was an incredible moment that I will always remember.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"gnt_em_cp_cw_i\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773167951_884_87209460007-1232747139.jpg\" data-gl- decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\"\/><a class=\"gnt_em_ig_bl\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DVirLnDjQ5N\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" aria-label=\"view Instagram post: \"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Uganda is a premier destination for shoebill encounters, but the giant \u201cdinosaur birds\u201d are listed as vulnerable with a shrinking population, so sightings are sporadic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">When a shoebill is spotted, the bird is typically standing motionless, waiting to strike and incapacitate prey with its large, razor-sharp bill. (Shoebills can remain motionless for hours.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">When shoebills are observed in flight, it\u2019s usually from a distance.<\/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\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/89060775007-shoebill-2.jpeg\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Giant 'dinosaur bird' lands on tour boat.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Garcia\u2019s image is reminiscent of <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\">footage<\/a> captured by Muhumuza during a Mabamba Swamp tour last November. It shows a shoebill on a tour boat and the angle of photography made the bird appear much larger than its actual size (about 4 feet tall).<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Muhumuza assured that the footage was genuine. It went viral and helped boost Uganda tourism and the legend of East Africa&#8217;s remarkable shoebills.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 9, 2026Updated March 10, 2026, 10:11 a.m. ET Excursions to Uganda in search of prehistoric-looking shoebills can&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":646175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[27],"tags":[216235,159,225839,225840,225842,216245,274663,224679,216732,219213,229357,225201,216244,216275,274661,225843,230178,274662,224678,216238,67,132,68,837],"class_list":["post-646174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-accessfree","tag-science","tag-sstssportsoutdoors","tag-sstsnoutdoors","tag-tagadventure-travel","tag-tagbiological-sciences","tag-tagbird-watching-spots","tag-tagbirds","tag-taglocal-affiliate-arts-entertainment","tag-taglocal-affiliate-travel","tag-tagoffbeat","tag-tagonline-image-galleries","tag-tagoverall-neutral","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagphotographic-digital-arts","tag-tagregional-parks-gardens","tag-tagtravel-guides-travelogues","tag-taguganda","tag-tagwildlife","tag-typestory","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}