Today I saw, together with my dad, a hamerkop, a peculiar bird from sub-Saharan Africa which was somehow scouring a nearby pool for frogs. It was presumably kept in captivity and had escaped, as it was rather a long from home and didn’t look like it could have survived the entire trip. Here’s some photographs my dad took:
It’s called Hammerkop in English, a Dutch or probably Afrikaans name that has been anglified a little. The bird is apparently fairly common in Africa and is named after the hammer shape of its head. It’s related, somewhat distantly, to storks, herons, etc. Or to pelicans, gannets, cormorants and the like. The jury’s still out.
But it’s mostly a very peculiar creature.
