Another name for Hamerkop is Scopus Umbretta. It belongs to the family Scopidae. This bird wades in water and has a curved bill. It has a crest at the back that closely resembles a hammer from which it derives its name.

Physical characteristics

The plumage of a Hamerkop is brown in color and its back has purple iridescence. The bill is flat, long and hooked. The bill is appears to be identical to that of the shoebill. The reason for this could be convergent evolution. For unknown reasons, this bird has feet that are partially webbed. The middle toe is shaped like a toe.

It has a short tail and wide wings that are rather big. These wings appear rounded and tipped, enabling it soar rather well. Whenever it soars, this bird tends to stretch its entire neck forwards just the way the ibis or stock does. Its flapping motions, however, area rather different, since it does so while coiling its neck backwards just as the way heron does it. The main vocalizations are shrills and cackles. They make these sounds when flying. They vocalize only when in groups.

Habitat and geographical range

The Hamerkop is mostly found in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is also common in the Southern coast of Arabia as well as in Madagascar. Wetland habitats are the ideal habitats for this bird. You can find it in rice paddies and wet areas in forests and savannas. They live in pairs and most of them remain sedentary within their territories. Only a few of them prefer to move to different areas during wet season. Whenever people build new water bodies, the Hamerkops are always among the first animals to move in.

Hamerkop’s Food

Hamerkops like feeding by the day. They also like roosting at around noon. They feed in pairs or sometimes alone. The food that they feed on is typical of all long-legged birds that like wading. The food in this case is fishes and amphibians. They search for these animals in shallow water. Their wings and feet do most of the work that involving flushing prey out of hiding. Its beak is well suited to capturing any prey that is within close range. These birds sometime hunt for tadpoles while flying over shallow water bodies.

Reproduction and social behavior

Hamerkops behave in a rather different way compared to other birds. One of their unique behaviors is participating in ceremonies whereby they run in groups of 10 birds. They run in round motion, all calling out very loudly with their crests held high. Another unique ceremony is commonly referred to as “unique mounting”. In this case, a bird will stand on its “mate” and pretend to be mounting it. In real sense, these two birds are not mates and no copulation is going on.

The most unique thing about the Hamerkop is that it builds a very large nest. Sometimes this nest might be 1.5 meters across. Such a big nest is often made using perhaps more than 10,000 sticks. These sticks are made so well that they can support a human being’s weight.