The shoebill is not only an endangered species in the world, but it is also difficult to see. It is a great adventure to track the shoebill in the Mabamba swamp, one of the homes of the endangered bird.

The morning breeze gently blows over the multi-colored water lilies that adorn the watercourses towards the Mabamba swamp. The warm rays of the sun always dissolve the fog and turn the seemingly lifeless gray sky into a beautiful, soft morning. Piercing the dying haze are the songs of water birds that always retronew the sky with hysterical melodies. They reverberate through the three natural channels that run through the extensive wetland.

There aren’t that many Shoebills left in the world. Shoebill is one of the most sought after birds in Africa. It can only be easily seen in Uganda and some parts of southern Sudan. Many birders take different safaris in Uganda to see the rare shoebill. Uganda has around 1,500 Shoebills and these can be found around Lake Kyoga, Semliki, Murchison and Queen Elizabeth National Parks, as well as the Katonga Valley.

The Mabamba Swamp is the closest place to Kampala where the Shoebill can be easily seen in its natural habitat. Mabamba is 23 km on the Kampala-Masaka highway from the city of Mpigi. It takes only 10 minutes on the water to reach the same swamp from Entebbe. The swamp, on the shores of Lake Victoria, is also home to two other endangered bird species: the blue swallow and papyrus gonolek, as well as the ever-shy sitatunga. There are only nine Shoebills in Mabamba, which seem fascinating to watch, but must be timed to get to the swamp very early in the morning before they leave for their feeding grounds.

Surprisingly, the locals around the swamp used to kill the bird on sight for superstitious reasons. According to some villagers, the Shoebill was considered an omen of bad luck.

“Every time we put it on while we went fishing, we would come back because that meant you wouldn’t catch any fish,” says a toothless old man.

Their numbers also dwindled further when Shoebills and their eggs started selling like hot cakes abroad. The two Shoebills at the Uganda Wildlife Education Center in Entebbe were confiscated from poachers who had taken them from Mabamba.

But today, due to awareness, residents have begun to see the importance of the bird, as it transforms the sleepy fishing village into a major tourist destination. People with boats rent them to tourists. Many tour companies organize bird watching safaris in the Mabamba Swamp.