Which bird can eat a baby Nile Crocodile whole?

Which bird can eat a baby Nile Crocodile whole? 

The Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is a large freshwater reptile native to Africa. On average, it grows to 300-440 centimetres (10-14 feet) long. The female lays eggs and baby crocodiles hatch after about 90 days. A baby Nile Crocodile measures about 30 centimetres (12 inches) long. 

There is a bird that can eat a baby Nile Crocodile whole, head first.

Nile Crocodile (juvenile)

The Shoebill can eat a whole baby Nile Crodile.

The Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) is a large wading bird in the Balaenicipitidae family with a beak that looks like a shoe. It has the third longest beak of all birds, after the pelican and the stork.

The Shoebill from east African countries, such as Uganda, Zambia, and South Sudan, can grow to 110-140 centimetres (43-55 inches) tall, with a wingspan of about 200 centimetres (78 inches).

Its beak (bill) measures over 20 centimetres (8 inches) long and almost 20 centimetres wide. 

Its beak is almost the size of a baby Nile Crocodile, and it can scoop up a young crocodile head first and swallow it whole.

It rarely flies, although it will fly for short distances up to 500 metres (1,640 feet). On the ground, it moves slowly and often stands still for long periods of time. It is mainly piscivorous, which means that it eats mainly fish, such as catfish and lungfish. However, it also eats water snakes, frogs, snails, turtles, lizards, and small crocodiles. 

Nile Crocodile (juvenile)
Shoebill
Shoebill
Shoebill

Location of photographs: Entebbe, Uganda

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

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