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65-514: The hamerkop ( Scopus umbretta ) is a medium-sized wading bird . It is the only living species in the genus Scopus and the family Scopidae . The species and family was long thought to sit with the Ciconiiformes but is now placed with the Pelecaniformes , and its closest relatives are thought to be the pelicans and the shoebill . The shape of its head with a long bill and crest at

130-698: A better sense of smell. A third stage of bird evolution starting with Ornithothoraces (the "bird-chested" avialans) can be associated with the refining of aerodynamics and flight capabilities, and the loss or co-ossification of several skeletal features. Particularly significant are the development of an enlarged, keeled sternum and the alula , and the loss of grasping hands. † Anchiornis † Archaeopteryx † Xiaotingia † Rahonavis † Jeholornis † Jixiangornis † Balaur † Zhongjianornis † Sapeornis † Confuciusornithiformes † Protopteryx † Pengornis Ornithothoraces † Enantiornithes George Latimer Bates Bates

195-473: A definition similar to "all theropods closer to birds than to Deinonychus ", with Troodon being sometimes added as a second external specifier in case it is closer to birds than to Deinonychus . Avialae is also occasionally defined as an apomorphy-based clade (that is, one based on physical characteristics). Jacques Gauthier , who named Avialae in 1986, re-defined it in 2001 as all dinosaurs that possessed feathered wings used in flapping flight , and

260-631: A doctor of letters from Knox College in 1885, he became a teacher in Hawaii but quit after a few months. He then worked as a surveyor for a railroad company in Tennessee. Following his parents' wishes, he joined the Chicago Theological Seminary where he studied Greek and Hebrew and graduated with a theology degree in 1892. He then taught at Ward Academy in South Dakota, using his free time to study

325-442: A group called Paraves . Some basal members of Deinonychosauria, such as Microraptor , have features which may have enabled them to glide or fly. The most basal deinonychosaurs were very small. This evidence raises the possibility that the ancestor of all paravians may have been arboreal , have been able to glide, or both. Unlike Archaeopteryx and the non-avialan feathered dinosaurs, who primarily ate meat, studies suggest that

390-539: A living from farming. He was known by the locals as "Bitye" and he called his farm by the same name. He collected natural history specimens both around him and on his travels and sent many of these to the Natural History Museum in London . He made use of native hunters to assist him in his collections. Some of the natives believed that he sought to collect male and female specimens so as to populate his own country with

455-420: A man's weight. When possible, it is built in the fork of a tree, often over water, but if necessary, it is built on a bank, a cliff, a human-built wall or dam, or on the ground. A pair starts by making a platform of sticks held together with mud, then builds walls and a domed roof. A mud-plastered entrance 13–18 cm (5.1–7.1 in) wide in the bottom leads through a tunnel up to 60 cm (24 in) long to

520-504: A manner similar cattle egrets , and has been observed fishing off the backs of hippopotamuses. It has also been recorded feeding in association with banded mongooses ; when a band of mongooses began hunting frogs in dried mud at the side of a pool of water a pair of hamerkops attended the feeding group, catching frogs that escaped the mongooses. The strangest aspect of hamerkop behaviour is the huge nest, sometimes more than 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) across, and strong enough to support

585-444: A medium-sized waterbird, standing 56 cm (22 in) high and weighing 470 g (17 oz), although the subspecies S. u. minor is smaller. Its plumage is a drab brown with purple iridescence on the back; S. u. minor is darker. The tail is faintly barred with darker brown. The sexes are alike and fledglings resemble adults. The bill is long, 80 to 85 mm (3.1–3.3 in), and slightly hooked at

650-622: A nesting chamber big enough for the parents and young. Nests have been recorded to take between 10 and 14 weeks to build, and one researcher estimated that they would require around 8,000 sticks or bunches of grass to complete. Nesting material may still be added by the pair after the nest has been completed and eggs have been laid. Much of the nesting material added after completion is not sticks, but an odd collection of random items including bones, hide, and human waste. Pairs of hamerkop are compulsive nest builders, constructing three to five nests per year whether they are breeding or not. Both members of

715-406: A sister group, the order Crocodilia , contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria . During the late 1990s, Aves was most commonly defined phylogenetically as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of modern birds and Archaeopteryx lithographica . However, an earlier definition proposed by Jacques Gauthier gained wide currency in the 21st century, and

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780-659: A subspecies of owl named as Otus senegalensis pamelae named after Miss Pamela Lovibond, a friend and librarian at the Athenaeum Club . Bates was unable to publish the Birds of Arabia but wrote several papers on Arabian birds for the Ibis . His unpublished manuscript on the Birds of Arabia was later used by Richard Meinertzhagen who added various embellishments and gave little credit to Bates. Bates died in Chelmsford following

845-717: A time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction . They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds , parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement)

910-402: A wide range of prey, mostly fish and amphibians, but shrimps, insects and rodents are taken too. Prey is usually hunted in shallow water, either by sight or touch, but the species is adaptable and will take any prey it can. The species is renowned for its enormous nests, several of which are built during the breeding season. Unusually for a wading bird the nest has an internal nesting chamber where

975-477: Is "false mounting", in which one bird stands on top of another and appears to mount it, but they do not copulate. This behaviour has been noted between both mated pairs and unmated birds, and even between members of the same sex and in reversed mountings, where females mount males. Because of this, the behaviour is thought to be social and not related to the pair bond. Dominant birds may signal to subordinates by opening their bills slightly and erecting their crests, but

1040-562: Is a flight-call, a shrill "nyip" or "kek". In groups, vocalisations include a range of calls including cackles and nasal rattles. One highly social call is the "yip-purr" call. This call is only made in a social context, when at least three birds, but up to 20 are gathered in a flock. Birds start by giving a number of "yip" calls, eventually giving way to purring notes. This call is made with the neck extended and sometimes accompanied by wing flapping, and becomes more vigorous when larger numbers of birds are present. Another common social behaviour

1105-572: Is comb-like (pectinated) like a heron 's. Its tail is short and its wings are big, wide, and round-tipped; it soars well, although it does so less than the shoebill or storks. When it does so, it stretches its neck forward like a stork or ibis , but when it flaps, it coils its neck back something like a heron. Its gait when walking is jerky and rapid, with its head and neck moving back and forth with each step. It may hold its wings out when running for extra stability. The hamerkop occurs in Africa south of

1170-429: Is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry. The first classification of birds

1235-503: Is not considered a direct ancestor of birds, though it is possibly closely related to the true ancestor. Over 40% of key traits found in modern birds evolved during the 60 million year transition from the earliest bird-line archosaurs to the first maniraptoromorphs , i.e. the first dinosaurs closer to living birds than to Tyrannosaurus rex . The loss of osteoderms otherwise common in archosaurs and acquisition of primitive feathers might have occurred early during this phase. After

1300-464: Is now thought to be closer to the Pelecaniformes . Recent studies have found that its closest relatives are the pelicans and shoebill . Although the hamerkop is the only living member of its family, one extinct species is known from the fossil record. Scopus xenopus was described by ornithologist Storrs Olson in 1984 based on two bones found in Pliocene deposits from South Africa. Scopus xenopus

1365-416: Is seen. Egg size varies by season, by the overall size of the clutch, and from bird to bird. Both sexes incubate the eggs, but the female seems to do most of the work. Incubation takes around 30 days from the first egg being laid to hatching, eggs are laid with intervals of one to three days, and they hatch asynchronously. Both parents feed the young, often leaving them alone for long times. This habit, which

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1430-467: Is sighted. The prey is then snatched with the bill and swallowed in flight. This method of hunting can be very successful, with one birds catching prey on 27 of 33 attempts during one 45-minute session. It is also opportunistic, and feeds on swarming termites when they conduct their nuptial flights, snatching as many as 47 alates (flying termites) in five minutes. This species has been recorded foraging for insects flushed by grazing cattle and buffalo, in

1495-516: Is synonymous to Avifilopluma. † Scansoriopterygidae † Eosinopteryx † Jinfengopteryx † Aurornis † Dromaeosauridae † Troodontidae Avialae Based on fossil and biological evidence, most scientists accept that birds are a specialised subgroup of theropod dinosaurs and, more specifically, members of Maniraptora , a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurids and oviraptorosaurs , among others. As scientists have discovered more theropods closely related to birds,

1560-400: Is unusual for wading birds, may be made possible because of the thick nest walls. The young hatch covered with grey down. By 17 days after hatching, their head and crest plumage is developed, and in a month, their body plumage. They first leave the nest around 44 to 50 days after hatching, but continue to use the nest for roosting at night until they are two months old. Many legends exist about

1625-530: Is used by many scientists including adherents to the PhyloCode . Gauthier defined Aves to include only the crown group of the set of modern birds. This was done by excluding most groups known only from fossils , and assigning them, instead, to the broader group Avialae, on the principle that a clade based on extant species should be limited to those extant species and their closest extinct relatives. Gauthier and de Queiroz identified four different definitions for

1690-558: Is usually lumped with the nominate race. Birds in Madagascar have been suggested to be distinct, in which case they would be placed in the subspecies S. u. tenuirostris . That proposed subspecies was described by Austin L. Rand in 1936. It has also been suggested that birds near the Kavango River in Namibia may be distinct, but no formal description has been made. The hamerkop is

1755-594: The Sahara , Madagascar , and coastal south-west Arabia. It requires shallow water in which to forage, and is found in all wetland habitats, including rivers, streams, seasonal pools, estuaries, reservoirs, marshes, mangroves, irrigated land such as rice paddies, savannahs , and forests . In Tanzania, it has also recently begun to feed on rocky shores. In Arabia, it is found in rocky wadis with running water and trees. Most are sedentary within their territories, which are held by pairs, but some migrate into suitable habitat during

1820-660: The Tiaojishan Formation of China, which has been dated to the late Jurassic period ( Oxfordian stage), about 160 million years ago. The avialan species from this time period include Anchiornis huxleyi , Xiaotingia zhengi , and Aurornis xui . The well-known probable early avialan, Archaeopteryx , dates from slightly later Jurassic rocks (about 155 million years old) from Germany . Many of these early avialans shared unusual anatomical features that may be ancestral to modern birds but were later lost during bird evolution. These features include enlarged claws on

1885-475: The binomial name Scopus umbretta . Brisson's names for bird genera were widely adopted by the ornithological community despite the fact that he did not use Linnaeus' binomial system . The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled in 1911 that Brisson's genera were available under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature , so Brisson is considered to be the genus authority for

1950-489: The inimical god Khauna would not like anyone to kill a hamerkop. According to an old Malagasy belief, anyone who destroys its nest will get leprosy , and a Malagasy poem calls it an "evil bird". Such beliefs have given the bird some protection. A south African name Njaka meaning "rain doctor" is derived from its habit of calling loudly prior to rain. Scopus , a database of abstracts and citations for scholarly journal articles, received its name in honour of this bird, as did

2015-561: The only known living dinosaurs . Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians . Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx ) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic . According to recent estimates, modern birds ( Neornithes ) evolved in the Late Cretaceous and diversified dramatically around

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2080-483: The wet season only. The species is very tolerant of humans and readily feeds and breeds in villages and other human-created habitats. The hamerkop is mostly active during the day, often resting at noon during the heat of the day. They can be somewhat crepuscular, being active around dusk, but are not nocturnal as has sometimes been reported. The hamerkop is mostly silent when alone, but is fairly vocal when in pairs or in groups. The only call it usually makes when alone

2145-433: The 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich . There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders . More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds . Wings, which are modified forelimbs , gave birds

2210-480: The ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds , including ratites , penguins , and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds , have further evolved for swimming. The study of birds is called ornithology . Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute

2275-428: The appearance of Maniraptoromorpha, the next 40 million years marked a continuous reduction of body size and the accumulation of neotenic (juvenile-like) characteristics. Hypercarnivory became increasingly less common while braincases enlarged and forelimbs became longer. The integument evolved into complex, pennaceous feathers . The oldest known paravian (and probably the earliest avialan) fossils come from

2340-479: The back is reminiscent of a hammer, which has given this species its name after the Afrikaans word for hammerhead. It is a medium-sized waterbird with brown plumage. It is found in Africa , Madagascar and Arabia , living in a wide variety of wetlands , including estuaries , lakesides, fish ponds, riverbanks , and rocky coasts. The hamerkop is a sedentary bird that often shows local movements. The hamerkop takes

2405-412: The bird species. Richard Bowdler Sharpe noted in 1906 that Bates' specimens were valuable and that there were several new species. By 1928, the number of specimens he had sent to the museum was estimated at 6905. During World War I, Bates was unable to send specimens and he began to spend more time on his farm cultivating cocoa, coffee and rubber trees: his may have been the earliest rubber plantations in

2470-509: The birds that descended from them. Despite being currently one of the most widely used, the crown-group definition of Aves has been criticised by some researchers. Lee and Spencer (1997) argued that, contrary to what Gauthier defended, this definition would not increase the stability of the clade and the exact content of Aves will always be uncertain because any defined clade (either crown or not) will have few synapomorphies distinguishing it from its closest relatives. Their alternative definition

2535-587: The boundaries are poorly defined. Breeding happens year-round in East Africa, and in the rest of its range, it peaks at different times, with a slight bias towards the dry season. Pairs engage in a breeding display, then copulate on the nest or on the ground nearby. The clutch consists of three to seven eggs which start chalky white, but soon become stained. The eggs measure 44.5 mm × 33.9 mm (1.75 in × 1.33 in) on average, and weight around 27.8 g (0.98 oz), but considerable variation

2600-522: The diet in East and Southern Africa and small fish being almost the only prey taken in Mali. Because it is willing to take a wide range of food items and also take very small prey, it is not resource-limited and only feeds for part of the day. The usual method of hunting is to walk in shallow water looking for prey. Prey is located differently depending on circumstances; if the water is clear, it may hunt by sight, but if

2665-665: The earliest members of Aves, is removed from this group, becoming a non-avian dinosaur instead. These proposals have been adopted by many researchers in the field of palaeontology and bird evolution , though the exact definitions applied have been inconsistent. Avialae, initially proposed to replace the traditional fossil content of Aves, is often used synonymously with the vernacular term "bird" by these researchers. † Coelurus † Ornitholestes † Ornithomimosauria † Alvarezsauridae † Oviraptorosauria   Paraves Most researchers define Avialae as branch-based clade, though definitions vary. Many authors have used

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2730-556: The eggs are laid. Both parents incubate the eggs, and raise the chicks. The species is not globally threatened and is locally abundant in Africa and Madagascar,. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as being of least concern . The hamerkop was first described by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 in his landmark Ornithologia which

2795-482: The end. It resembles the bill of a shoebill, and is quite compressed and thin, particularly at the lower half of the mandible. The bill is brown in young birds, but becomes black by the time a bird fledges. The neck and legs are proportionately shorter than those of similar looking Pelecaniformes. The bare parts of the legs are black and the legs are feathered only to the upper part of the tibia . The hamerkop has, for unknown reasons, partially webbed feet. The middle toe

2860-451: The first avialans were omnivores . The Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx is well known as one of the first transitional fossils to be found, and it provided support for the theory of evolution in the late 19th century. Archaeopteryx was the first fossil to display both clearly traditional reptilian characteristics—teeth, clawed fingers, and a long, lizard-like tail—as well as wings with flight feathers similar to those of modern birds. It

2925-490: The hamerkop. In some regions, people state that other birds help it build its nest. The ǀXam informants of Wilhelm Bleek said that when a hamerkop flew and called over their camp, they knew that someone close to them had died. It is known in some cultures as the lightning bird , and the Kalahari Bushmen believe or believed that being hit by lightning resulted from trying to rob a hamerkop's nest. They also believe that

2990-512: The hamerkop. The generic name, Scopus , is derived from the Ancient Greek skia for shadow. The specific name umbretta is modified from the Latin for umber or dark brown. The hamerkop is sufficiently distinct to be placed in its own family, although the relationships of this species to other families has been a longstanding mystery. The hamerkop was usually included in the Ciconiiformes , but

3055-507: The journal of the East African Natural History Society, Scopus . Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves ( Latin: [ˈaveːs] ), characterised by feathers , toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart , and a strong yet lightweight skeleton . Birds live worldwide and range in size from

3120-480: The latter found it difficult to skin birds. Because of this, Norman Kinnear influenced the Bombay Natural History Society to send a skinner named Fateh Khan to Arabia. The skinner, however, proved to be inexperienced, fell sick, and was forced to return to India. Philby's specimens included several new species including Dendrocopus dorae which he requested be named after his wife Dora. He also had

3185-772: The northwest of Lake Chad. Bates left Africa and moved to live in England in Little Watham , Essex in 1928 and settled in a home that he called 'Timbuctoo'. He then began to examine the bird collections in the bird room in the British Museum, London, and began to work on a Handbook of the Birds of West Africa . In 1930, he made a collecting trip to Sierra Leone for the Natural History Museum, and also visited Guinea and Mount Nimba. In 1931, he went on another expedition to Mali. He

3250-402: The outermost half) can be seen in the evolution of maniraptoromorphs, and this process culminated in the appearance of the pygostyle , an ossification of fused tail vertebrae. In the late Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, the ancestors of all modern birds evolved a more open pelvis, allowing them to lay larger eggs compared to body size. Around 95 million years ago, they evolved

3315-541: The outside. A few reports exist of hamerkops nesting close together, including in Uganda, where 639 nests were seen in an area of 8 km (3.1 sq mi); even if each pair had made seven nests, this would mean 80 pairs were nesting in that area. The species is not treated as colonial , as it does not habitually nest close together, but is not thought to be highly territorial , either. Even where pairs have home ranges that are more spread out those home ranges overlap and are

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3380-427: The pair build the nest, and the building of nests may have a function in creating or maintaining the pair bond between them. Barn owls and eagle owls may force them out and take over the nests, but when the owls leave, the pair may reuse the nest. Owls may also use abandoned nests, as may snakes, small mammals such as genets , and various birds, and weaver birds , starlings , and pigeons may attach their nests to

3445-514: The plants of the region. In 1895, he went to West Africa ostensibly to work in a Presbyterian Mission but primarily to collect natural history specimens. There, he took an interest in the local language and began to document the Bulu grammar and vocabulary. This led to a publication of a textbook in 1926. He lived initially at Senji, later at Efulen near Great Batanga in the German part of Cameroon , making

3510-528: The previously clear distinction between non-birds and birds has become blurred. By the 2000s, discoveries in the Liaoning Province of northeast China, which demonstrated many small theropod feathered dinosaurs , contributed to this ambiguity. The consensus view in contemporary palaeontology is that the flying theropods, or avialans , are the closest relatives of the deinonychosaurs , which include dromaeosaurids and troodontids . Together, these form

3575-581: The region. The German authorities forced him to hand over his guns (used for bird collecting) and he was asked to leave the region in 1915. He then moved south on foot to Rio Beneto in the Spanish Guinea. It was only in 1916 that he returned to his plantation and by 1921 he had travelled across the Cameroon which was controlled by Britain and France. He wrote on the structure of the underwing coverts in 1918. In 1922, he travelled to Nigeria and in 1927, he visited

3640-452: The same biological name "Aves", which is a problem. The authors proposed to reserve the term Aves only for the crown group consisting of the last common ancestor of all living birds and all of its descendants, which corresponds to meaning number 4 below. They assigned other names to the other groups.   Lizards & snakes   Turtles   Crocodiles   Birds Under the fourth definition Archaeopteryx , traditionally considered one of

3705-545: The second toe which may have been held clear of the ground in life, and long feathers or "hind wings" covering the hind limbs and feet, which may have been used in aerial maneuvering. Avialans diversified into a wide variety of forms during the Cretaceous period. Many groups retained primitive characteristics , such as clawed wings and teeth, though the latter were lost independently in a number of avialan groups, including modern birds (Aves). Increasingly stiff tails (especially

3770-542: The species is not very aggressive in general towards others of its species. Birds in groups also engage in social allopreening . One bird presents its face of back of the head to the other to be preened. This species normally feeds alone or in pairs, but also feeds in large flocks sometimes. It is a generalist, although amphibians and fish form the larger part of its diet. The diet also includes shrimp, insects, and rodents. The type of food they take seems to vary by location, with clawed frogs and tadpoles being important parts of

3835-600: The time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non- ornithuran dinosaurs. Many social species preserve knowledge across generations ( culture ). Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs , and participating in such behaviour as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking , and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous , usually for one breeding season at

3900-474: The water is very muddy, it probes its open bill into water or mud and shuts it. It may shuffle one foot at a time on the bottom or suddenly open its wings to flush prey out of hiding. Prey caught in mud is shaken before swallowing to clean it, or if available, taken to clearer water to do so. The species also feeds while in flight. A bird flies slowly low over the water with legs dangling and head looking down, then dipping feet down and hovering momentarily when prey

3965-444: Was asked to examine the specimen collection of Harry St John Bridger Philby . He learned Arabic and visited Arabia at the age of 70 in 1934 on the invitation of Philby. He spent three months and collected more than 500 specimens. Bates trained Philby's servant to skin and had an Indian clerk, Mahbub Elahi Kazi, collect specimens with a 16-bore gun. He also left a .410 bore shotgun for Philby to obtain more bird specimens even though

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4030-550: Was born near Abingdon, Illinois . He went to school where he learned Latin and became interested in languages. He got an interest in natural history from his teacher Leanna Hague who took the class on botanical trips. He went to study at Lincoln, Illinois , and then transferred to Knox College , Galesburg . He worked in the summer to help produce maps for the Santa Fe Railroad in Knox County and Galesburg. After graduating with

4095-461: Was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae . Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use. Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy . Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the clade Theropoda as an infraclass or a subclass, more recently a subclass. Aves and

4160-450: Was published two years after the tenth edition of Carl Linnaeus ' Systema Naturae . The species was subsequently described and illustrated by French polymath Comte de Buffon . When the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin revised and expanded Carl Linnaeus 's Systema Naturae in 1788 he included the hamerkop and cited the earlier authors. He placed the species in the genus Scopus that had been introduced by Brisson and coined

4225-559: Was slightly larger than the hamerkop and Olson speculated based on the shape of the tarsus that the species may have been more aquatic. The hamerkop is also known as the hammerkop, hammerkopf, hammerhead, hammerhead stork, umbrette, umber bird, tufted umber, or anvilhead. Two subspecies are recognized - the widespread nominate race S. u. umbretta and the smaller of West African S. u. minor , described by George Latimer Bates in 1931. Two other subspecies have been proposed. S. u. bannermani of south west Kenya

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