The hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) is a medium-sized wading bird which closest relatives are thought to be the pelicans and the shoebill. The shape of its head with a long bill and crest at the back is reminiscent of a hammer, which has given this species its name after the Afrikaans word for hammerhead. Many legends and beliefs exist about these mysterious birds renowned for building enormous nests.
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CrepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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PiscivoresA piscivore is a carnivorous animal that eats primarily fish. Piscivorous is equivalent to the Greek-derived word ichthyophagous. Fish were the die...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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TerritorialA territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
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Soaring birdsSoaring birds can maintain flight without wing flapping, using rising air currents. Many gliding birds are able to "lock" their extended wings by m...
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Wading birdsWading birds forage along shorelines and mudflats searching for small aquatic prey crawling or burrowing in the mud and sand. These birds live in w...
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ArborealArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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MonogamyMonogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe plumage of the hamerkop is a drab brown with purple iridescence on the back; subspecies S. u. minor is darker. The tail is faintly barred with darker brown. The male and the female are alike and fledglings resemble adults. The bill is long, 80-85 mm (3.1-3.3 in), and slightly hooked at the end. It resembles the bill of a shoebill, and is quite compressed and thin, particularly at the lower half of the mandible. The bill is brown in young birds but becomes black by the time a bird fledges. The bare parts of the legs are black and the legs are feathered only to the upper part of the tibia. The hamerkop has, for unknown reasons, partially webbed feet. The middle toe is comb-like (pectinated) like a heron's. Its tail is short and its wings are big, wide, and round-tipped; it soars well, although it does so less than the shoebill or storks. When it does so, it stretches its neck forward like a stork or ibis, but when it flaps, it coils its neck back something like a heron. Its gait when walking is jerky and rapid, with its head and neck moving back and forth with each step. It may hold its wings out when running for extra stability.
Hamerkops are found in Africa south of the Sahara, Madagascar, and coastal south-west Arabia. Most populations are sedentary but some migrate into suitable habitat during the wet season only. These birds live in all wetland habitats, including rivers, streams, seasonal pools, estuaries, reservoirs, marshes, mangroves, and irrigated land such as rice paddies, savannahs, woodlands, and forests as well as semi-deserts with available water. Hamerkops need shallow water in which to forage. In Tanzania, they have recently begun to feed on rocky shores. In Arabia, they are found in rocky wadis with running water and trees. They also readily feed and breed in villages and other human-created habitats.
Hamerkops nest solitary but outside of the breeding season, they spend time in pairs or small groups. They are mostly active during the day, often resting at noon during the heat of the day. They can also be active around dusk. Hamerkops usually feed alone or in pairs, but may sometimes feed in large flocks. When hunting these birds walk in shallow water looking for prey. If the water is clear, it may hunt by sight, but if the water is very muddy, they probe their open bill into water or mud and shut it. They may shuffle one foot at a time on the bottom or suddenly open their wings to flush prey out of hiding. Prey caught in mud is shaken before swallowing to clean it, or if available, taken to clearer water to do so. Hamerkops can also feed while in flight. They fly slowly low over the water with legs dangling and head looking down, then dipping feet down and hovering momentarily when prey is sighted. The prey is then snatched with the bill and swallowed in flight. Hamerkops are usually silent when alone, but are fairly vocal when in pairs or in groups. When alone a bird will make a flight call which is a shrill 'nyip' or 'kek. When in groups, hamerkops produce cackles and nasal rattles. One highly social call is the 'yip-purr' call. This call is made with the neck extended and sometimes accompanied by wing flapping, and becomes more vigorous when larger numbers of birds are present. Hamerkops also preen each other when in groups.
Hamerkops are carnivores mainly piscivores. Amphibians and fish form a very large part of their diet but they also take shrimp, insects, and rodents. Hamerkops also feed on swarming termites and can snatch as many as 47 flying termites in five minutes.
Hamerkops are monogamous and form pairs that defend their nesting territory year-round. In East Africa, they can breed anytime throughout the year and in the rest of their range, breeding peaks at different times, with a slight bias towards the dry season. The nest of hamerkops is huge sometimes more than 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) across, and strong enough to support a man's weight. When possible, it is built on the fork of a tree, often over water, but it can also be built on a bank, a cliff, a human-built wall or dam, or on the ground. A pair starts by making a platform of sticks held together with mud, then builds walls and a domed roof. A mud-plastered entrance 13-18 cm (5.1-7.1 in) wide in the bottom leads through a tunnel up to 60 cm (24 in) long to a nesting chamber big enough for the parents and young. Both members of the pair build the nest. The female lays 3-7 eggs which start chalky white, but soon become stained. Both parents incubate the eggs, but the female seems to do most of the work. Incubation takes around 30 days. The chicks hatch covered with grey down. By 17 days after hatching, their head and crest plumage is developed, and in a month, their body plumage. They first leave the nest around 44 to 50 days after hatching but continue to use the nest for roosting at night until they are 2 months old.
Hamerkops are not considered threatened at present. However, the quality of the water in their native wetland habitat is getting worse and the birds are also hunted and traded at traditional medicine markets in Nigeria.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the hamerkop total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, and its numbers today are stable.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...