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Apr 23, 2019 · Secretary Bird Shows Off to World's Heaviest Flying Bird. Ashlea Dennison, a 25-year-old dentistry student attending the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, captured this...
- 2 min
- 251.1K
- Latest Sightings
It can fly. But when it hunts, it prefers to walk – sometimes 30 km a day. Meet the elegant but deadly Secretary Bird.
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- 2.8K
- Brut America
Incredible sighting of a secretary bird showing off to the world's largest flying bird. Watch as it repeatedly jumps and twirls in the air in front of it. Ti...
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- Bird Tings
May 31, 2010 · Kruger National Park - Usually you see Secretary Birds only on the ground; here you can watch such a bird in flight.
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- Xanadu343
- Secretary Bird Profile
- Interesting Secretary Bird Facts
- Secretary Bird Fact-File Summary
The secretarybird or secretary bird(Sagittarius serpentarius) is an African, primarily terrestrial, bird of prey. It is related to birds like vultures, hawks, and harriers. It has a distinctive appearance, as it has the body of an eagle, but the legs of a crane. These long legs make it tall, sometimes up to 1.3m.
1. No one is quite sure where it got its name.
There are a few different theories, including that it was named by Dutch Settlers because of its resemblance to 19th Century Lawyers’ Secretaries. Another theory suggests that the name is a corruption of an originally Arabic word, meaning “hunter bird”. 1
2. Its scientific name means “the archer of snakes”.
This is because secretary birds love to hunt snakes. They use their large wingspan to distract the snake, while their scaley legs prevent snake bites.
3. They rarely fly.
They move around on foot most of the time, only taking to the air to reach their nests or for courtship displays.
Scientific Classification
1. Glenn I. Shoot the Messager? How the Secretarybird Sagittarius serpentarius got its names (mostly wrong). Ostrich. 2018;89(3):287-290. doi:10.2989/00306525.2018.1499561 2. Portugal SJ, Murn CP, Sparkes EL, Daley MA. The fast and forceful kicking strike of the secretary bird. Curr Biol. 2016;26(2):R58-R59. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.004 3. Naish D. Secretary Birds: Weird, but Actually Not That Weird – Scientific American Blog Network. Accessed March 24, 2021.
- Aves
- Accipitriformes
- Animalia
- Chordata
Secretary birds are active from dawn to dusk, although they rest in the shade during the hottest times of the day. They are known to walk 20 miles (32 km) or...
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- 57.1K
- Maasai Sightings
People also ask
Do secretary birds fly?
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The Secretarybird of sub-Saharan Africa looks like a slim eagle set on the long, slender legs of a crane. Secretarybirds can fly but prefer to hunt on foot, walking over 20 miles a day and dispatching their prey with powerful kicks of their taloned feet.
