SHOEBILL STORK POPULATION FULL
SHOEBILL STORK POPULATION SERIES

Where to stay on your shoebill stork safaris in Bangweulu swamps. September to November offer great birding (though maybe no Shoebill sightings) and the some amazing mammal spectacles. The main season is from May to August when Shoebills can usually be seen on canoe trips. To date, these guards have helped protect over 30 fledglings. Approximately eight local fishermen are employed as guards to protect shoebill nesting sites, preventing poachers from stealing eggs and chicks to feed the illegal wildlife trade. Shoebill safaris In 2012, a Shoebill Nest Protection Plan was developed with support from local communities. Shoebill stork safaris in Bangweulu swamps – Bangweulu is home to over 400 bird species, including 10% of the world’s wattle crane population and the globally important population of the endangered shoebill stork, both also listed as vulnerable. Geological Survey.Shoebill stork safaris in Bangweulu swamps Zambia – Best time to see the shoebill stork in Zambia NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Shoebill numbers are declining, and global populations of the birds are thought to range from 5,000 to 8,000, with the largest populations in the Sudd wetlands of South Sudan. The birds face pressures from development, poaching, and fires. Shoebills are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened species. In addition to the fish and the birds, the area is frequented by elephants, lechwe, hippopotamuses, and several other types of wildlife. About 400 bird species and 80 species of fish live in the wetlands, including dozens that are threatened or endangered.

The Bangweulu wetlands have been designated as a wetland of international importance by the Ramsar Convention and as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by BirdLife International. In the local Bemba language, bangweulu means “where the water sky meets the sky.” It's these mirror-like floodplains, where distinguishing between sky and water can be difficult, that give the place its name. Beyond these are expansive floodplains that fill with water seasonally. Several towns are located along the shores of the lake, and swamps are located immediately to the south and east.

SHOEBILL STORK POPULATION SERIES

Looking down from space, a group of mostly parallel sandy ridges form a series of islands within the lake. The Bangweulu wetlands-which include a shallow lake, several rivers, and flooded grasslands and swamps-spread across a flat area about the size of Connecticut. On May 15, 2020, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured this natural-color image of one such ecosystem in northern Zambia. This forces prey to the surface to breathe, giving shoebills an opportunity to strike. If decaying vegetation accumulates quickly on the bottom or temperatures change in unfavorable ways, water can quickly become depleted in oxygen.

SHOEBILL STORK POPULATION FULL

The enormous birds-some standing up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall, with 2.5-meter wingspans-prefer to live near slow flowing and muddy freshwater full of vegetation. The dinosaur-like shoebill is a wading bird that can stand motionless for hours before using its wide bill and explosive bursts to snap up lungfish, bichir, tilapia, eels, monitor lizards, and even baby crocodiles. For prey, however, there is little that is funny about these birds. With oversized bills, gangly legs, and shaggy neck feathers, there is something vaguely cartoonish about the African shoebill (Balaeniceps rex).

Shoebill stork population