Secretarybird Sagittarius serpentarius
Gauteng and the Cape, South Africa. October 2004 and July 2005

The Secretarybird Sagittarius serpentarius occurs throughout sub-Saharan Africa in all types of grassland and open savanna habitat, including desert-like open scrub. It was long thought that the name “Secretarybird” came from the long crest feathers which can appear to look like quill pens “stuck between the ears of a medieval scribe.” However, it has also been suggested that the name is a corruption of the Arabic saqr-et-tair which means “hunter-bird”, or alternatively that the name is a corruption of the Family name Sagittariidae which comes from the Latin for “archer” (the striding gait of the bird as it hunts is said to resemble an archer advancing to shoot - as I’ve seen the bird but not an archer I can’t comment either way).

The Secretarybird is omnivorous (taking food as varied as insects, small amphibians, lizards, plovers, chicks, mongooses, and rabbits) but they are renowned for eating snakes, including cobras and adders, which they stamp on or kick. The lower legs of Secretarybirds have heavy scales that may protect them while walking through the brush or when attacking their prey.

The Secretarybird has traditionally been placed in a monotypic family close to the birds of prey: recent molecular analysis does confirm a relationship with the falconidae, but also with storks (the Secretarybird can look stork-like in flight and are obviously long-legged but there the outward similarity ends). Behaviour and certain features such as the bare skin around the face also suggest a similarity to the New World caracaras - which they are often taxonomically placed next to.

The modern Secretarybird is confined to Africa but fossil evidence suggests close relatives once existed in the Middle East and southern Europe (Kemp 1994).

Secretarybird. Near Cape Town, October 2004:

Secretarybird. Near Dullstroom, Mpumalanga, July 2005:

All photographs copyright Charlie Moores