The grey-headed seagull against the shoebill
UGANDA ACTION-PACKED images of a grey-headed seagull engaged in an altercation with a shoebill were captured in Mabamba swamps near Entebbe, Uganda.
While looking for its favourite prey (lungfish) in a swampy area, a shoebill got too close to a nesting site for grey-headed gulls.
The latter immediately took off and started chasing the shoebill away.
The shoebill, also known as the whalebill, whale-headed stork, and shoe-billed stork, is a large long-legged wading bird.
It derives its name from its enormous shoe-shaped bill.
As you can see from other images, the shoebill has a crazed look in its eyes that can stop anyone in their track and turn back where they came from.
They are not very aggressive birds by nature, but they can be very scary-looking.
Renato Granieri, an Italian wildlife photographer living in London, took these exciting images.
“I have been going to Uganda to photograph shoebills for several years, and it feels very rewarding to photograph new behaviours,” he told mediadrumworld.com.
“The interaction between the birds, with the gull showing spectacular agility in the air, fascinated me.
“I love capturing these rare moments, and thankfully, we did not have to wait long for this moment. We were able to photograph them within an hour.”
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