hamerkop, noun

/ˈhɑːmə(r)kɔp/
Forms:
Also hamercop.
Plurals:
hamerkoppe/ˈhæməkɔpə/.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African DutchShow more Afrikaans (earlier South African Dutch) hamerkop, hamer hammer + kop head; see quotation 1937.
The hammerkop, Scopus umbretta. Also attributive.
[1937 B.J.F. Laubscher Sex, Custom & Psychopathology 14The Tekwane (known in Afrikaans as Hamerkop on account of the peculiar hammer-like shape of its head) is another bird of ill-omen, and its presence near the kraal is taken to mean that someone is exercising witchcraft influences on a member of the kraal.]
1958 R. Collins Impassioned Wind 48A large dark bird, probably a hamerkop, flared upwards.
1965 J. Bennett Hawk Alone 58Down on the stones near a small pool a hamerkop bird was standing, watching something in the shallow water.
1966 E. Palmer Plains of Camdeboo 194For many years a pair of hamerkoppe or hammerhead lived near a pool beyond the Cranemere gates...Sometimes we would see them dancing together and would smile at their ungainliness, but at dusk nobody smiled at the hamerkops, for they were then always faintly sinister.
1980 J.O. Oliver Beginner’s Guide to our Birds 43The bird’s strange appearance, its weird call and the wisdom it uses in nest building have caused Africans to look upon it with superstition, even moving their huts if a Hamerkop flies over them, calling as it goes.
1990 T. Van Rensburg in Conserva May 21We scaled cliffs with home-made ropes..to investigate the nest of a hamerkop.
1993 A.P. Brink First Life of Adamastor 72Hamerkop birds perched at dusk in shallow water, treading the soft mud to stir up the spirits of the dead and foretell new deaths.
The hammerkop, Scopus umbretta. Also attributive.
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Afrikaans
hamel, nounn.hammerhead, nounn.
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