Ever have a shoe that’s the wrong size? While a too-small, too-tight shoe can be uncomfortable, a too-large shoe is equally painful and risks a twisted ankle or nasty blisters. But what about a too-big shoebill? A new photo has been making the social media and internet rounds, showing a bird that’s definitely the wrong size.

Another Forced Perspective Blunder

The photo in question shows a shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) next to an eager photographer, but the perspective is significantly off. At first glance, the bird’s bill would seem to be the size of the young man’s torso as he kneels within what appears to be very convenient chomping distance.

But, perspective matters. This photoshopped bird is yet another example of forced perspective, the technique of deliberately manipulating size, distance, and positioning to give the optical illusion of disproportionate size. We have previously seen this with the man-sized condor, another photo that made out the bird to be much larger than it really is.

Breaking Down a Bad Perspective

We can easily debunk this bird’s size and comparative proportions with a little critical thought. First, note that the bird’s legs are out of frame on the bottom of the photo, while the man is obviously several feet further back. This automatically clues us in that the bird is further forward and would therefore seem significantly larger than a true side-by-side comparison.

The shadows also confirm the different sizes and how they are manipulated. The bird’s shadow is cast back but barely reaches the young man, another clue that the two are not actually next to one another.

Finally, the two figures – bird and man – are not in comparative postures. The bird is standing upright, with its head alert (as we can see by the tuft on the back of its crown). This tells us the bird is standing just about as tall as it can, rather than a relaxed posture that might be a few inches shorter. The man is kneeling and his back is slightly curved, further shortening his stature and making him seem much smaller compared to the shoebill.

That chomping distance is not so convenient after all, and the bird is not nearly as tall as one might imagine. Or is it?

A Shoebill’s Real Size

To be fair, the shoebill is a large wading bird that might generally stand as tall as 40-55 inches. At its tallest, the shoebill would be 4 feet, 7 inches tall. Average height of a man in the United States is 5 feet, 9 inches – a full 14 inches taller than the biggest shoebill.

The shoebill’s broad, sturdy, intimidating bill is even more impressive in size at 8-9.5 inches long. Still, this is not depicted in the photo, which seems to indicate the bill would be a whopping 20+ inches long compared to the young man’s head, neck, and shoulders.

Why Would Anyone Be Fooled?

So, why would anyone be taken in by such an obvious out-of-proportion photo? Seemingly spectacular images can spread quickly through the internet. Unfortunately, the more prominent an image becomes, the general assumption is that it must be accurate – even if it is far from. Because the bird looks so unusual, however, it can ironically seem even more believable. The best we can do as birders is to properly identify birds in such photos, then do our own research to determine exactly what sizes we are seeing.