Secretary Bird Facts, Characteristics, Height, Diet & Photos:
Ever wondered what a secretary bird is, how it looks, its size, or the habitat? Well, in this article, we dissect everything about secretary birds, from their scientific name to their threats and conservation.
A secretary bird scientifically called Sagittarius serpentine is a large terrestrial carnivore’s bird from its own bird family called sagittariidae found in the sub-Saharan regions of African.
Described as a secretary bird by John Frederick Miller in the 1779s because it had featured that European male secretary of those days used to wore, the gray tailed coats with dark knee length pants.
The secretary bird is featured with quills at the back of its head, long gray wings, tail feathers resembling a tailcoat and black feathers that go down midway of its legs making it look like it is putting on black pants hence resembling the male secretaries.
A secretary bird is a diurnal bird of prey falling under same class as Vultures, eagles, kites, hawks, and harrier.
Secretary birds are identified as endangered bird species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because of their rapid drops in numbers probably as a result of their habitat destruction by humans.
A secretary bird is a special and honored bird species in South Sudan and South Africa as it appears on their coats of arm.
Characteristics of a Secretary Bird;
Adult secretary birds have a gray plumage on upper body, flattened dark crest, black flight fathers, black flight feathers covering the abdomen going down its thighs to the knee joints and a featherless red-orange face.
Their crest is featured of long black scattered feathers arising from the base of their neck. The lower back, the primary and secondary feathers and the thighs are black with a wedge-shaped tail that has a white tip.
Both the sexes resemble one another although most times the male has a shorter head with more plumes and long tail feathers.
Adults have a yellow cere and a blue-gray bill on featherless red-orange face, color of the eyes changes from pale brown to gray. There legs and toes are pinkish Grey with the thighs dressed in black feathers.
The toes are short, broad and webbed making it hard for the bird to grasp prey with them. Newly born secretary birds have a yellow face, greyish eyes, brownish feathers and a shorter tail.
Secretary Bird Size and Weight.
A secretary bird has an eagle like body with very long pink and heavily scaled legs of about 1.3m, short partially webbed toes with thick claws adapted mainly for walking rather than carrying or grasping prey.
The secretary bird has a wing span of about 2.12m and weighs about 2.5-5kg, with males similar to females.
Secretary Bird Diet
Just like caracaras, secretary birds hunt their prey on foot. They don’t have a special diet but rather eat all what comes their way from small to mid-sized mammals such as snakes, lizards, amphibians, baby tortoises, reptiles, insects, crabs, smaller birds and their eggs, etc.
Secretary birds stalk their prey in the grasses, strike on it with their bills or stomp on it to kill it, they can also swallow it alive if it is smaller.
It occasionally prey on dead animals killed in the grasslands by other carnivores larger animals such as lions and also prey on those killed by bush fires.
Secretary birds stomp on tall grass to flush out prey. They can chase out on their prey with their crest feather risen and the wings spread, striking the prey with its feet or bill to kill it.
They hold down the prey with their feet, tear it with their bills until they finish it.
How Do Secretary Birds Kill Snakes?
It is reported that when a secretary bird is capturing a snake, it will have a flight with it until it drops it to its death though it has not yet been verified.
Basing on its latin name “Saggitarius Serpentarius’’ which means ‘catcher of a serpent’, secretary bird is one of the amazing bird species which kills a snake with its only foot.
They use energy 5times their body weight to stamp on the snake, kick it with 195 Newtons, fight around with it until they bring it down. The contact time between their feet with the snake is extremely first on an average of 15milliseconds.
Secretary birds’ prey on every kind of snake including the venomous species such as the cobras and adders. Farmers in Africa pet the bird in order to protect their farm lands from snakes, pets and rodents.
How Hard can a Secretary Bird Kick?
A secretary bird can kick with a force of 195 Newtons.
A team of scientists from University of London in Royal Holloway, The Royal Veterinary College and Hawk Conservancy Trust discovered that a secretary bird kicks with 195 Newtons, equivalent to 5times its own body weight.
When attacking and killing its prey using its only foot and the contact time between the feet and its prey is extremely fast, 15 milliseconds on Average.
Secretary Bird Lifespan.
Secretary birds have an average lifespan of about 10-15yrs in the wild and 15-19yrs in captivity.
They prefer to stay in shrubs, savannas, open grass lands of less than 0.5m. it avoids deserts and hot regions.
Secretary Bird Behaviour.
Secretary birds are not very social birds, they roost in trees with mating pairs roosting together. Mated pairs search for food separately though in close contact with each other.
Secretary birds spend most of their time hunting on the ground in the grasslands. They can rum at a speed of 2.5-3km/hr, taking 120 steps per minute in the grasslands.
Can a Secretary Bird Fly?
Secretary birds fly a lot with their feathers splayed to manage turbulence, they slowly flap their wings in order not to be very exhausted.
During flight, their necks stretch out with their elongated central feathers of the tail extending beyond their legs. During hot periods, they use their thermals, rising up 3,800m above the ground.
Sound of a Secretary Bird.
Adult secretary birds are normally quiet but are often heard uttering a deep croaking noise sounding like noise of a raven or a big frog during the mating seasons when they are searching or greeting their mates or when they are fighting with other birds.
The couple the nest makes soft clucking voices, but when alarmed, it can produce the highest pitched croak in the wild. Chicks make a high pitch sound until when they are 1month.
Secretary Bird Breeding.
Secretary birds breed any time in the year but most especially during the dry seasons. During courtship, they fly a lot very high in a smooth up and downward motion, calling with soft croaking.
They can also chase each other on the ground, defending their territory of about 50km2. the couple builds a nest at the top of a very high thick thorny tree of about 13m high above the ground.
The nest is constructed out of sticks, about 1.5m wide with a depth of 30-50cm. They lay about 3 blueish green or white eggs.
They both incubate the eggs but it’s only the female that sleeps in the nest over the night. In the morning when the male returns to the nest, they greet each other with bowing and bobbing of the heads with necks extended, tails upright, wings spread and chest feathers puffed out.
Secretary birds hatch their eggs with in 45days, both parent the chicks in turns for the first 2-3weeks.
In presence of enough food, all the chick grows up very well, but in scarcity of food, some of them will die from starvation or from being preyed on by owls, ravens and hornbill.
Young secretary birds are born covered in Grey and white which later becomes black and white after a few weeks. their face and legs are yellow and their crest feather are seen coming out after 21days and flight feathers after 28days.
They can independently feed after 40days but in close contacts with their parents and are fled at 60days, during this time, they are fully grown and ready to flap their wings.
Secretary Bird Habitat;
Secretary birds are natives to sub–Saharan African countries extending from Senegal to Somalia and south to South Africa and Western cape.
They are also found in Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria, etc secretary birds are attracted to open Savannas and grasslands with scattered trees, to open woodland and forests, scrubs and to pasteurized farms and gardens.
They avoid dry, hilly and mountainous lands, a wetlands and swamps. They roost in very tall acacia trees that grow up-to 8m tall. Secretary birds are non-seasonal birds hence rarely migrate to new settlements.
In Uganda, secretary birds are sighted at Uganda Safari National Park of Murchison Fall National Park and at Queen Elizabeth National Park.
In Kenya secretary birds are everywhere except in the arid and semi-arid areas but they are mostly sighted at Masai Mara,Tsavo and Amboseli National parks.
Secretary birds are of the commo bird species encountered in savannahs of Tanzania and are mostly seen at Lake Manyara and Lake Eyasi, Serengeti Arusha and Ngorongoro National parks.
Predators of a Secretary Bird
Adult secretary birds are rarely preyed on but young ones are preyed on by owls, kites, ravens, crows, eagles and hornbill.
Are Secretary Birds Friendly to Humans?
Yes, secretary birds are harmless bird species to humans. They can be kept at home like hens. Farmers in Africa can pet them on their gardens and farmlands to get rid of snake, pests and rodents.
They are also in seen in human fields scavenging small animal species that have escaped bush fires.
Conservation of a Secretary Bird.
Secretary bird global conservation status was last assessed in April 2020 by the t International Union for Conservation of Nature who realised a rapid population decline in their numbers as a result of habitat destruction caused by humans.
Clearing lands for agricultural farming, commercial and residential developments and this led the bird to be classified as the Endangered by the union.
Besides being threatened by habitat destruction, the bird is also hunted and trapped by the locals who then sell it in the International Pet Trade though it is still under low counts.
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