Shoebill Chatter
Posted at 2:31 pm August 25, 2006 by Sara Skillman
Since my last entry on the shoebill storks (see Sara’s previous blog, Understanding Shoebills), I have moved from the off-exhibit breeding facility to the Wild Animal Park to observe the shoebills on exhibit. After discussing my progress with Michael Mace, the curator of birds, and the bird keepers, we decided that it would be beneficial to obtain behavioral data from both sites. The shift also involved extensive discussions with Debbie Marlowe, lead bird keeper, about how best to obtain data important for the collection. There are three birds, one male and two females, at Mombassa Lagoon inside the Park. One of the females, however, has been separated from the other two by a large gate. Recently, the gate panels have been opened to allow for movement throughout the entire enclosure. This will hopefully encourage interactions between all three birds.
Each morning, I go into the Park to record any social behaviors that the shoebills exhibit, such as bill clattering, manipulating nesting material, or approaching another shoebill. The most common behavior I have found has been bill clattering, when the bill is raised vertically and rapidly opens and closes to produce sound. If you have seen the shoebill storks, then you have probably heard this distinctive noise! Bill clattering is thought to be used as a social greeting. From the data I have been collecting, I have been able to approximate the average number of bill clatters each bird performs during my observation periods. The male bill clatters about seven times, whereas both females bill clatter only about once. I am also examining who is ” talking” to whom, by observing which birds are likely to bill clatter together most often. This could help us understand a little bit about mate choice in these birds.
I am still doing work with the off-exhibit shoebills as well. I have been watching tapes of the birds that record during the early mornings and late evenings to monitor their behavior while no one is around. Hopefully, observations of both on-exhibit and off-exhibit birds will provide enough information to better understand this unique species. I’m still collecting more data, so be sure to check back in a few weeks for an update!
Sara Skillman is a Summer Fellow with the Behavioral Biology Division of CRES.
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August 27th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Thanks so much for the update, Sara. The shoebill’s clattering is an amazing sound! My family and I were quite overwhelmed the first time we heard it! What was especially amazing to me was the bright red inside the stork’s mouth, since the rest of him/her is so gray. I do hope the off-site breeding facility will eventually be able to report a successful mating and clutch of eggs. As your summer work here ends, I wish you all good luck in the future and hope you may be back with us!