hammerkop, noun

/ˈhæməkɔp/, /ˈhæməkɒp/, /ˈhɑːməkɔp/, /ˈhɑːməkɒp/
Forms:
Also hammercop.
Plurals:
hammerkops, or hammerkoppe /ˈhæməkɔpə/.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Englished form of Afrikaans hamerkop, see hamerkop.
The wading bird Scopus umbretta, the sole species represented in the family Scopidae, characterized by its brown colour, heavy crest, and large bill; hamerkop; hammerhead; paddavanger; tegwaan. Also attributive.
Note:
Considered by some to be a bird of ill-omen: see impundulu.
a1827 D. Carmichael in W.J. Hooker Botanical Misc. (1831) II. 52The Branaa valley..is a tract of marshy ground..harbouring..hammerkops, sand-larks and pipers.
1834 A. Smith Diary (1939) I. 163A Basuto said the hammerkop gives rain.
1867 E.L. Layard Birds of S. Afr. 312The ‘Hammerkop’..is a strange, weird bird...At times,..two or three..feeding in the same pool..will execute a singular dance, skipping round one another opening and closing their wings, and performing strange antics.
1889 H.A. Bryden Kloof & Karroo 7A hammerkop (hammerhead) came down to the water.
1899 R.B. & J.D.S. Woodward Natal Birds 199Hammerkop (Scopus umbretta).
1909 The Cape 23 Apr. 13On a dizzy ledge above stood the eccentric nest of that eccentric bird the hammerkop — a paddavanger as it is sometimes called.
1918 S.H. Skaife Animal Life in S. Afr. 233The hammerkop is a quaint bird.
1949 C. Bullock Rina 49Now came another prophet of evil in the shape of a dingy hammerkop squawking querulously over us.
1971 Country Life 28 Oct. 1127Hammercops, curious bulky brown birds with crests and thick bills, flew about in pairs.
1988 T.J. Lindsay Shadow (1990) 312Then he saw the hammerkop nest built of reeds, grass, twigs, and everything else obtained from close at hand.
The wading bird Scopus umbretta, the sole species represented in the family Scopidae, characterized by its brown colour, heavy crest, and large bill; hamerkop; hammerhead; paddavanger; tegwaan. Also attributive.
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Afrikaans
hammerhead, nounn.handel, verb transitiveintransitivev.
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