Hammerkop Bird PictureDescription of the Hammerkop Bird! Hammerkop Bird as shown in picture! Scientific name: (Scopus umbretta) The Hammerkop bird is so named due to the thick square crest on on its head! The name Hammerkop means hammerhead in Dutch. Hammerkops are found in places such as Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar and southwest Arabia! They habitat on inland waters, slow flowing streams, lake margins and marshes! The Hammerkop bird feeds on fish, frogs, rodents and similar small animals! Female Hammerkops lays from three up to eight eggs and incubation last for thirty days. Hammerkops builds a haystack-like stick nest roughly about two meters across in a tree, to deter predators! The entrance to their nest is situatated at the bottom, in other words, the nest is built upside down. They return to the same nest each year making repairs if necessary. Hammerkops are normally seen alone or as a pair! They vocalizes with a series of shrill piping whistles and a wek-wek-wek" whilst in flight! In some cultures the Hammerkop are considered to be magical bird, while there are others who has the belief that the bird is an evil omen, believing that it can foresee an individual's death! | |
