Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta)
About the Hamerkop
The hamerkop (Scopus umbretta), 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.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 55 recordings for this species: 4 CC BY-NC-ND · 3 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Other birds you can hear here
- Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopusrecording
- Common GreenshankTringa nebulariarecording
- African Pied WagtailMotacilla aguimprecording
- African Wood OwlStrix woodfordiirecording
- Barn SwallowHirundo rusticarecording
- Black-crowned Night HeronNycticorax nycticoraxrecording
These are the birds recorded alongside it, not close relatives — the site holds no other member of its genus or family yet.