Hamerkop by Kordouane

Photography • Animals • posted on Nov 20, 2017

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Description

he hamerkop was first described by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 in his landmark Ornithologia, published two years after the tenth edition of Carl Linnaeus' Systema Naturae. Brisson's work was later incorporated by Linnaeus into the 12th edition of the Systema Naturae. 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 (ICZN) 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 the hamerkop. The specific name umbretta was given to the hamerkop in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin. The generic name, Scopus, is derived from the Ancient Greek skia for shadow.[7] The specific name umbretta is modified from the Latin for umber or dark brown.

Comments (11)

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Ken _Gilliland

9:27AM | Mon, 20 November 2017

Nice shot of the "lightning" bird... the Hammerkop, some African tribes believe can manifest itself only through lightning and it only visible as a bird to a women. Tribal legend says that if you destroy the Lightning bird’s nest, the bird will take revenge by sitting on the roof of your hut and calling down lightning. It is also said that if you hit the bird without killing it, it is you who will die or at least lose your hair. If the bird hovers over your village, something evil is about to befall you.