- Scopus umbretta
Identification
L. 48 - 56 cm
Wt. up to 535 g
- Heavy crest
- Flattened black bill
- Heavy, deep and straight
- Black legs and feet
- Brown eye
Distribution
Africa south of the Sahara, Madagascar and south-west Arabia.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies: S. u. umbretta and S. u. minor.
Habitat
Rivers and streams, dams, wetlands or even small rainwater puddles.
Behaviour
Diet
Diet includes frogs, fish or aquatic invertebrates.
Breeding
They build a huge nest made of sticks, reeds, weeds and debris, and it is placed in the stout fork of a large tree, on a cliff ledge, on large rock or even on the ground. It has an entrance on the underside.
Voice
Loud, high pitched yelping sound: yip-purrr....yik-yik-yik-yik-purrrr, purr-yik-yik, sometimes in chorus.
