Secretarybird facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Secretarybird |
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| In Serengeti National Park | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
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Sagittariidae
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| Genus: |
Sagittarius
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| Binomial name | |
| Sagittarius serpentarius |
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The secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a large terrestrial bird of prey. It is usually found in African savannas and open grasslands.
Unlike most birds of prey, the secretarybird hunts its prey on foot. Adults hunt in pairs and sometimes as family flocks. They stalk through the grass with long strides. Prey includes insects, mammals from mice to hares and mongoose, crabs, lizards, snakes, tortoises, young birds, bird eggs, and sometimes dead animals killed in grass or bushfires.
The bird is famous for hunting snakes. It even hunts venomous cobras and other reptiles. Its claws are weak and blunt, so to make a kill, it stomps on its victim, breaking its back.
It is put in its own family on the basis of molecular sequence analysis.
Size
Standing up, the secretarybird is nearly 4.5 feet (1.3 m) tall.
Images for kids
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The secretarybird has distinct black feathers protruding from behind its head.
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A pair atop a tree
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Captive secretarybird with two eggs in its nest
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Illustration of chick, from Faune de la Sénégambie (1883), by Alphonse Trémeau de Rochebrune
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See also
In Spanish: Secretario para niños
