Adaptation

      The Shoebill Stork is very adequately designed for the specific habitat that it lives in. Accordng to A. Guillet in Ostrich: A Journal of African Ornithology, it has large, webbed feet for standing in the mud and water without sinking deep into the ground. The webs also help it with swimming if it has to. Its long, skinny legs allow it to wade into deeper waters with stealth so that it can sneak up on its prey, which is mainly fish. The stork has a large head that allows for it to have strong jaw muscles to crush prey with its powerful shoe-shaped beak (Guillet 1979) . Its large, round eyes give it precision eyesight for detecting its prey. This bird also has a huge wingspan (7 foot average) that makes flight possible when needed, although they usually stay on the ground. Some of them make their nests in trees on occasion. The Shoebill is all around very muscular, especially in its neck. The musculature gives it great speed and power to be able to the fish, snakes, and lizards that it preys off of (Muir and King 2012).

 Check out how another stork is adapted for its environment: Sattlebilled Stork

Also, if you are interested in another weird bird, look at the Blue-Footed Booby

References