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Portrait of Secretarybird

Nature · Birds

Secretarybird

Endangered (IUCN, uplisted 2020) · fewer than 10,000 mature individuals

Sagittarius serpentarius — Sagittariidae

A tall, long-legged bird of prey that strides across African grassland on foot, killing snakes and lizards by stamping on them with a blow delivered in about 15 milliseconds at five times its own body weight. Grey and black, with a crest of quill-like head plumes, it is the only living member of its family and appears on the coat of arms of South Africa and on Sudan's. Widespread declines across the savanna led the IUCN to uplist it to Endangered in 2020.

How to spot them

  • â–ļA crane-like raptor about 1.3 m tall, walking rather than soaring, on very long pink-grey legs
  • â–ļGrey body, black 'trousers' and flight feathers, bare orange-red face skin and a hooked eagle's bill
  • â–ļA crest of long black quill-like plumes at the nape, the origin of its English name
  • â–ļTwo very long central tail feathers streaming well past the rest in flight
  • â–ļHunting on foot in open grassland, stamping rapidly at prey hidden in tussocks

How to know it

A raptor that hunts on foot, killing snakes by stamping with a blow of about five times its body weight

Secretarybird — the strike lasts roughly 15 milliseconds.

Its crest of quill-like head plumes is said to resemble pens tucked behind a clerk's ear

Secretarybird — the derivation is contested; an Arabic phrase for 'hunter-bird' is also proposed.

The only living member of its family, it appears on the coats of arms of South Africa and Sudan

Secretarybird — Sagittariidae.

Its scientific name means 'archer, the snake-handler'

Sagittarius serpentarius, the secretarybird.

Road counts in Botswana between 1991–95 and 2015–16 recorded a 78 per cent fall in sightings

Secretarybird — the evidence behind its 2020 uplisting to Endangered.

Uplisted to Vulnerable in 2011 and to Endangered in 2020, with fewer than 10,000 mature birds thought to remain

Secretarybird — IUCN Red List.

Builds a flat stick platform on top of a thorny acacia, returning to it for years

Secretarybird's nest.

Quick-fire facts

  • â€ĒHeight 1.2–1.4 m, wingspan up to about 2.1 m, weight 3.5–4.5 kg
  • â€ĒIUCN Red List: Endangered — uplisted from Vulnerable in 2020; BirdLife estimates fewer than 10,000 mature individuals
  • â€ĒIt is thought locally extinct across much of West Africa, and in East Africa is now largely confined to protected areas
  • â€ĒA 2016 study of a trained bird, Madeleine, measured strike forces of about 195 newtons delivered in 10–15 milliseconds
  • â€ĒDiet: snakes (including adders and cobras), lizards, rodents, insects, birds' eggs and young birds; it walks up to 30 km a day
  • â€ĒDespite its long legs it is a strong soarer and performs an undulating aerial display with croaking calls
  • â€ĒIt appears on the South African coat of arms adopted in 2000, where it stands with wings raised above the motto, and on the coat of arms of Sudan
  • â€ĒIts closest living relatives are thought to be the Accipitriformes; it is sometimes placed in its own order, Sagittariiformes

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Sources