It looks like he started smiling after the man started petting him

It takes pets like no problem, thats a great shoe bill right there

I felt sad for him when the gardener left the bird all alone again

How a creature with a fixed beak can both "smile" and look pissed off, is beyond me.

"Who's a nice living fossil!"

The only crime here is that the guy didn't pet the shoebill long enough.

Humanity’s real purpose is pet at least one of every animal on earth

Shoebills aren't aggressive towards humans and are actually a favourite of bird watchers when visiting africa because they will let people approach their nest, they will also form strong bonds with people and can recognise individual people

The blinking of the eyes, kinda reminds me of the animatronic’s eyes at Chuck-E-Cheese

I think shoebills have been around for so long that they're just kinda indifferent to us, but not in the 'leave me alone and I'll leave you alone' kinda way. More like, 'oh look it's a human. Those things will pet you!'

This is Ueno Zoo in Japan. There are four shoebill. If the ring on your leg is blue, a girl and Her name is Sana

It's like they are puppets. I need to see one in person to believe these things exist.

such a good boy!!!

Shoebills actually respect humans. Even let’s humans pet them. You just have to bow to them. It’s a sign of respect and trust in them. shoebills even look for there human companions. They just look terrifying. inside,they are just little puppies.

Having one of those as a guard dog is now one of my life goals.

It’s Sana. Beautiful girl. ️

That bird looked genuinely happy to get a head scratch

The bird looked so content when it was being pet.

So peace is an option.. Sometimes

Aw, shoebill looked like it needed more