{"id":4974,"date":"2026-02-11T10:14:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T10:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/?p=4974"},"modified":"2026-02-11T10:14:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T10:14:03","slug":"dinosaur-like-bird-clatters-bill-like-machine-gun-in-rare-encounter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/?p=4974","title":{"rendered":"Dinosaur-like bird clatters bill \u2018like machine gun\u2019 in rare encounter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Shoebill attempting to communicate.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"576\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/n2zk4VtgDsuNSFSCOjTsuw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU3NjtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/ftw_outdoors_usa_today_article_609\/99bd7dca61fce68ab63fd9bd73b6cd1e\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Shoebill attempting to communicate.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Innocent the Guide, of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mabambatrips\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Mabamba Trips;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Mabamba Trips<\/a>, refers to shoebills as gorillas of the wetlands and explained to FTW Outdoors: \u201cMost tourists used to come to Uganda for gorillas only, and now the shoebill is competing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Last week, Mabamba Trips captured footage of a shoebill attempting to communicate by clapping its bill &#8220;like a machine gun.&#8221; It&#8217;s an interesting behavior, considering that a shoebill&#8217;s bill, shaped like a shoe, can measure 12 inches. (Note the hollow sound the clapping produces in the footage posted below.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.africanparks.org\/shoebill-conservation-bangweulu-unique-solution-unique-bird?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=18820285803&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADRCFtB-K-r4La0QXNoZrJpmfmUc2&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAqKbMBhBmEiwAZ3UboAKsL0Z6o61q9nV-fvEjcAQHIKiZH-TSWRDkSW-bI9N0KPdE5JYzVBoCg7EQAvD_BwE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:African Parks;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">African Parks<\/a> stated that in Zambia, the local name for shoebill is <em>mapumambao<\/em>, translating to &#8220;The one who drums on wood.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In December, Mabamba Trips captured footage of a shoebill stalking and slurping a snake in Mabamba Swamp.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>This article originally appeared on For The Win: <a href=\"https:\/\/ftw.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/outdoors\/2026\/02\/09\/giant-dinosaur-bird-tries-communicate-rare-uganda-encounter\/88590836007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Giant 'dinosaur bird' tries to communicate in rare Uganda encounter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Giant &#8216;dinosaur bird&#8217; tries to communicate in rare Uganda encounter<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}