In Culture
There are many legends about the Hamerkop. In some regions, people state that other birds help it build its nest. The Xam 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 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.
Scopus, a database of abstracts and citations for scholarly journal articles, received its name in honor of this bird, as the Hamerkop is renowned for its superior navigation skills.
Read more about this topic: Hammerkop
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“Culture is the suggestion, from certain best thoughts, that a man has a range of affinities through which he can modulate the violence of any master-tones that have a droning preponderance in his scale, and succor him against himself. Culture redresses this imbalance, puts him among equals and superiors, revives the delicious sense of sympathy, and warns him of the dangers of solitude and repulsion.”
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