Dave Taylor's African Safari: Trophic Level III: Omnivores and Small Carnivores - Hammerkop

Trophic Level III: Omnivores and Small Carnivores
Hammerkop
Page 10

Scopus umbretta

Length: 55 cm (21 inches)

Status: Uncommon but not endangered.

Habitat: Hammerkops are found along the muddy margins of streams, ponds, rivers and lakes.

Food: Hammerkops eat frogs and tadpoles which they find and catch as they shuffle along in shallow water. They will also fly over the water and deftly pluck their prey from the surface.

Social System/Behavior: Hammerkops are found either singly or in pairs. Family groupings of up to seven do not stay together very long.

The hammerkop builds one of the largest nests of any African bird. It may be 1.5 meters wide (5 feet) and nearly as high. The nest is reused year after year and material is added to it each year. Inside the huge mound of sticks and vegetation is a small nest chamber that is only 30 centimeters wide (1 foot). Here, the female lays between three and six eggs. The eggs are incubated for about one month.

Young hammerkops leave the nest 50 or so days after hatching. Both parents assist in feeding them until then.

The nest is usually built so that it overhangs, or is near, water.

The huge nest is used by a variety of other species that either live or nest on it. Eagle owls, Egyptian geese, some raptors, snakes and bees are all known to use a hammerkop’s nest.

Predators: Tree snakes will attempt to rob the nest but it is likely that most young are lost after they have fledged. The area they nest and feed in is home to a variety of predators including leopards, crocodiles, pythons and many other species capable of capturing one of these birds.

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