One of the most distinctive attractions of the African savannas is the sight of a secretary bird striding majestically across the veld; its stiff-legged gait reminiscent of a man walking on stilts. Indeed, the bird is best described as a ?long-legged grounded eagle?.
The scientific name Sagittarius serpentarius, refers firstly to the bird?s resemblance to an archer and secondly to its preference for snakes. The popular name of secretary bird is derived from the fancied resemblance between the long lax feathers of its crest when raised to the quill pens worn behind a secretary?s ear in the last century. A modern theory is that the name comes from the Arabic saqu ettair meaning hunter-bird translated into French as secrétaire.
Secretaries are usually seen in pairs and, if alone, there is often a mate not far off. Their relentless march is interrupted from time to time as they make quick sorties after suspected prey and the lucky observer may see a snake being killed by repeated blows to the head while the birds? wings are held half open, partly for balance and perhaps to ward off strikes by the hapless serpent. The birds are not immune to snake venom and they take care to ensure that the snake is dead before eating it whole if it is small enough. The secretary bird enjoys a great measure of protection because of its habit of killing snakes. In fact snakes form only a small part of its diet although it will attack any snake it encounters regardless of danger. Its diet consists mainly of lizards (four agamas and two chameleons from one crop), tortoises, which are swallowed whole, mice, the young of game birds, grasshoppers and other invertebrates, and even termites.
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{K:150877} 11/12/2004
