Hamerkop

Meet the hamerkop, a most unusual and clever bird whose name means "hammerhead"! If you look at its profile, you'll see why... It has a long, backwards-pointing crest on its head that, along with its stout beak, looks just like a hammer.

But this brown-feathered bird is a master builder, not a carpenter! Using thousands of sticks, mud, and grass, a pair of hamerkops will work for months to build one of the biggest nests of any bird in the world... a giant, strong fortress that's so sturdy, it can even hold the weight of a person! The nest has a cozy inner chamber, hidden through a secret muddy tunnel, to keep its eggs and chicks safe from harm.