This bird of prey is endemic to Southern Africa. It likes to keep its feet planted firmly on the ground most of the time and can usually be found in open grasslands. It’s a tall bird and can reach a height of 1,3 metres. Unlike many other bird species the male and females look much alike and are happy to breed any time of the year, although they prefer later in the dry season. Their one to three offspring will hatch in a nest at the top of a thorny tree and if times are good and food is plentiful all three can grow to become fledglings. These birds enjoy a diet consisting mostly of insects and small vertebrates which they hunt and catch on the ground. Their modus operandi when it comes to killing their prey is ‘death by stomping’.

They appear on over a 100 different postage stamps and the Sudan and South African coat of arms. They have also been found on the handle of an ivory knife found in Upper Egypt dating back to c. 3,200BC. The appearance of this striking bird on the South African coat of arms came about in the year 2000, with its outstretched wings representing growth and its fondness for killing snakes alluding to the protection of the South African state against its enemies.

The Secretarybird’s global conservation status was last assessed in April 2020 and it was listed as Endangered (EN). The species is threatened by habitat loss and degradation caused by residential and commercial development. Their habitat is also lost due to agricultural farming. The species is also hunted, captured and traded in the international pet trade, although this occurs in small numbers.

Find out more by clicking on this link: https://www.sanbi.org/animal-of-the-week/secretarybird/

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