The secretary bird is a dapper raptor
This interesting raptor is in a family all of its own.
IF you are not a birder, you might not have realised that the secretary bird you spot striding across the veld is actually a raptor, although it has been placed in a family of its own.
However, when it takes to the air, the flying secretary bird suddenly looks decidedly like a bird of prey and it can soar to great heights fairly easily. Secretary birds usually take off with a run but can do so from a standing position.
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Here are some facts and figures about this somewhat strange looking bird:
* The secretary bird is a large, long-legged, long-tailed, rather dapper looking bird. It is mostly grey, with smart black flight feathers, crest, rump, belly and leggings. It has a hooked bill and a signature erectile crest of feathers on the nape of its neck.
* Its name might refer to its crest, which looks for all the world like a handful of pens tucked behind a secretary’s ear. The name might also be derived from the Arabic ‘saqr et-tair’, which means hunter bird.
* It captures most of its prey on the ground, usually with its bill but also by stamping on it with its feet. As it is often filmed or photographed dramatically killing snakes, many people believe that snakes make up most of its diet. However, this is not the case. Snakes make up a small percentage of its diet. It also eats rodents, insects, birds, amphibians, young hares, baby birds, eggs and lizards.
* Its favourite habitat is open country, particularly grasslands but it is also found in semi-deserts, savannah, open woodlands and even farmlands. It is widespread in Africa and can be found throughout South Africa.
* This bird is usually spotted in pairs or small groups but congregates in large groups of up to 50 at waterholes in arid places.
* This near-threatened bird is an uncommon to locally common South Africa resident.
* Its nest is a large platform of sticks on the top of a tree. It lays between one to three eggs. Unlike other raptors there is little aggression between siblings although when there are three chicks the smallest one is unlikely to survive.
Source: Roberts’ Birds of Southern Africa, and the Raptor Guide of Southern Africa by Ulrich Oberprieler.
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