GENERAL:
The secretarybird or secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a very large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey. Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savannah of the sub-Saharan region. Although a member of the order Accipitriformes, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, hawks, vultures, and harriers, it is given its own family, Sagittariidae. It appears on the coats of arms of Sudan and South Africa.
In 1769 Vosmaer was the first European to describe the secretarybird in one of the pamphlets later collected as his Regnum Animale, naming it Sagittarius for its gait which was thought to resemble an archer’s. He also mentioned that it was known as the Secretarius by farmers at the Cape of Good Hope who had domesticated it to combat pests around homesteads. In 1779 English illustrator John Frederick Miller also described it as secretarybird.
HABITAT:
It chooses open country, mainly savanna, open woodland, grassland and dwarf shrub land. These ‘habitat preferences are confirmed by the relatively high reporting rates in the Karoo, Kalahari, Grassland, Mopane, Miombo and Woodland vegetation types. It is also attracted to man-made habitats such as airfields, grazing paddocks and fallow fields. It is absent from mountain Fynbos, and avoids forest, dense woodland and very rocky, hilly or mountainous areas.
BREEDING:
Secretarybirds associate in monogamous pairs. During courtship, they exhibit a nuptial display by soaring high with undulating flight patterns and calling with guttural croaking. Males and females can also perform a grounded display by chasing each other with their wings up and back, much like the way they chase prey. They usually mate on the ground, although some do so in Acacia trees. Secretary ybirds will stay close to their mate even if their chick has already left. Nests: are built at a height of 5–7 m on Acacia trees. Both the male and female visit the nest site for almost half a year before egg laying takes place. The nest is around 2.5 m (eight feet) wide and 30 cm (one foot) deep and is constructed as a relatively flat basin of sticks.
STOMPING:
Secretarybirds specialize in stomping their prey until the prey is killed or immobilized. This method of hunting is commonly applied to lizards or snakes.
DIET:
Unlike most birds of prey, the secretary bird is largely terrestrial, hunting its prey on foot. Adults hunt in pairs and sometimes as loose familial flocks, stalking through the habitat with long strides. Prey may consist of insects, mammals ranging in size from mice to hares and mongoose, crabs, lizards, snakes, tortoises, small birds, bird eggs, and sometimes dead animals killed in grass or bush fires.
THREATS:
The young are preyed upon by crows, ravens, hornbills, large owls and kites as they are vulnerable in Acacia tree tops, with no known incidents of predation on adults. As a population, the secretary bird is mainly threatened by loss of habitat and deforestation. In 1968 the species became protected under the Africa Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Loss of grassland to bush encroachment driven by rising CO2 levels has also been implicated, as has a susceptibility to power line collisions. Nevertheless, the species is still widespread across Africa, and has adapted well to arable land where prey animals such as rodents are more common than in traditional habitat. The species is well represented in protected areas as well. They are assessed as vulnerable by the IUCN due to a recent rapid decline across their entire range.
DISTRIBUTION MAP
Information Obtained by Rowan van Tonder (Avifauna Specialist)
