Secretary Bird
Sagittarius serpentarius
Description: Secretary birds are large raptors with long legs and long wings. They are approximately 60 inches tall. They are gray in color over most of their bodies, and black on the feathers on their legs and tail. Their feet are brown in color, and they have a red featherless area around their eyes.
General Information: Secretary birds have adapted to a life of hunting on the ground. They rarely fly. The long wings and tail are used primarily for keeping the balance of the bird as it walks, runs, or hunts. Flight is usually restricted to visiting trees and to roost. To kill their prey, they stomp it to death. By doing this, they keep their bodies safer from snakebites, etc.
Habitat: Open grass plains, savannah, steppes, and bushveld, when it is not too dense.
Range: Africa, south of the Sahara Desert.
Reproduction: Nests are a flat platform made of sticks and twigs, with a hollow in the center lined with grass, dung, and the pellets of undigested remains of prey. Nests are on top of a bush or tree. 2 to 3 eggs are laid. After a 42 day incubation period, the eggs hatch. The young are fledged in 65 to 116 days.
Life Span: 10-15 years in the wild; up to 19 years in captivity.
Diet:
In the Wild: Snakes, insects, frogs, lizards, birds, rodents.
At the Zoo: Chickens, chicken necks, vitamins.
Interesting Facts: The Abilene Zoo was the first zoo in the United States to successfully reproduce the secretary bird.