At first glance the Hammerkopf is an ungainly bird, with a bizarrely shaped head; I photographed these in 2019 in Ethiopia, in their usual pose on a jetty at a fish market waiting for handouts.
It is in fact a species of stork, and stands about 22″ high. The overall impression is rather homely, even dumpy. I have seen them hunting like herons, wading in shallow water.
But it turns out that head is really shaped for speed:
Let’s see the proof. This is a small pond in the Khwai Community Campgrounds between the Okavango and the Chobe. The brown bird flying low over the water on the left is a Hammerkopf.
It hovers:
and then, so lightning fast that I couldn’t see it until I looked at my photos, it lowers its head, beak agape:
dips into the water:
and grabs a tiny silvery fish:
The fish is often invisible, but the beak is dripping, proof of that dive:
It carries the fish off to the bank to feast. They made pass after pass across the pond, and for the life of me I couldn’t ever see the moment of catch.
Here is a video, with the crucial portion slowed down and one frame actually frozen so you can see it.
A not-so-humdrum brown bird after all.
Eyes on the Wild 
The BBB (Big Brown Bird) certainly has super excellent ‘wing/eye/beak’ coordination. I love the reflections. Skillful photography & video.
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Impressive capture! A bit like a skimmer,but more precise.
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Wow, nice camera work. This fellow looks like a Marabou but fishes like he learned from an osprey, a skimmer and pelican! Considering his beak, he is unlikely worried about getting the fish down head first, like most other piscivores.
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They were so fast, barely interrupting their flight to dip briefly into the water, that with the naked eye I simply couldn’t see what they were doing. One of those occasions where only taking photos and videos allowed me to see it.
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