When a Hamerkop and Yellow-billed Kites fight for a Guttural Toad

Abstract

After several minutes of being persistently chased by the kites, the Hamerkop dropped the amphibian on the sand. One of the Yellow billed Kites immediately dived down to the toad, grabbed it in its bill and both birds flew off out of sight. This behaviour is described by Iyengar (2008) as kleptoparasitism, literally "parasitism by theft".