Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia (B), Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Uganda, Yemen (B), Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Vagrant to Liberia.
Population
Estimated population is 170,000 - 1,100,000 (2010).
Status LC
Deterioration in wetland water quality caused by the excessive use of pesticides is the main threat.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Predominantly amphibians, and small fish, as well as crustaceans, worms, insects.
Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) [XC746056]
by GABRIEL LEITE from Outstanding station wagons (near Abha), Abha, Aseer Province, Saudi Arabia (call)
Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) [XC605762]
by Bernard BOUSQUET from Bank of River Benue (near Jimeta), Adamawa, Nigeria (call, song)
Nest
An elaborate hollow structure of sticks, usually in a fork of a tree overhanging water, but also on cliff ledges, rock columns, on the ground or on sandbanks.
Subspecies
Birds from Madagascar sometimes considered separate subspecies, bannermani.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
umbretta Gmelin, 1789 - Most of tropical Africa, south-western Arabia, Madagascar.
minor Bates, 1931 - Coastal belt from Sierra Leone to eastern Nigeria.