The species is therefore classed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Insects and small vertebrates make up its diet.Īlthough the secretarybird occurs over a large range, the results of localised surveys suggest that the total population is experiencing a rapid decline, probably as a result of habitat degradation. The secretarybird hunts and catches prey on the ground, often stomping on victims to kill them. In years with plentiful food all three young can survive to fledgling. The nest is built at the top of a thorny tree, and a clutch of one to three eggs is laid. It also has very long eyelashes.īreeding can take place at any time of year, but tends to be late in the dry season.
Adults have a featherless red-orange face and predominantly grey plumage, with a flattened dark crest and black flight feathers and thighs. The secretarybird is instantly recognizable as a very large bird with an eagle-like body on crane-like legs that give the bird a height of as much as 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in). Although a member of the order Accipitriformes, which also includes many other diurnal birds of prey such as kites, hawks, vultures, and harriers, it is placed in its own family, Sagittariidae. John Frederick Miller described the species in 1779.
Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savanna of the sub-Saharan region. The secretarybird or secretary bird ( Sagittarius serpentarius) is a large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey.
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