🦩Hamerkop
The hamerkop, also called the umbrette, is a medium-sized water bird with brown plumage. It is found in mainland Africa, Madagascar and Arabia, living in a wide variety of wetlands, including estuaries, lakesides, fish ponds, riverbanks, and rocky coasts. The shape of its head, with its long bill and crest at the back, gives this species its name, hamerkop being the Afrikaans word for hammerhead. Long considered to sit with the Ciconiiformes, the species and its family is now placed with the Pelecaniformes, its closest relatives thought to be the pelicans and the shoebill. It is the only living species in the genus Scopus and the family Scopidae.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2025.
- Body mass
- 0.47 kg
- Body length
- not recorded
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- not recorded
Everything we know about the Hamerkop
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass0.47 kgAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Tail length0.15 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Wing length0.29 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Beak length0.08 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Tarsus length0.07 mAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Trophic levelCarnivoreAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
HabitatWetlandAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
LifestyleTerrestrialAVONETDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l0.5 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Hamerkop yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force, maximum lifespan.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classAves
- ›orderPelecaniformes
- ›familyScopidae
- ›genusScopus
- ›speciesScopus umbretta
- orderSauria
- classBirds · Aves
- familyScopidae
- genusScopus
All 11 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- orderSauria
- classBirds · Aves
- familyScopidae
- genusScopus
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