Have you ever seen a guy with afro who can walk 20 kilometers a day?

The national emblem of the Republic of Sudan looks like this👇

National emblem of the Sudan | Wikipedia

In the following content today, let’s talk in detail about secretary birds.

At first glance, the Secretary Bird looks weird with its head like Kenpachi Zaraki from BLEACH, thin legs, and sharp eyes. But if you look closely, you will find that this bird actually has eyelashes , which are super long and curly! The "gentleness of lowering the head" completely changes the Secretary Bird's image of running wild, turning it into a graceful beauty, and its thin legs become a supermodel figure.

Secretary Eagle vs. Kenpachi Zaraki. Left | Ian Howard / Flickr; Right | wiki

A gentle bow | Pinterest

Secretary

According to the bird DNA classification system proposed in 1988, the Secretary Bird belongs to the order Falconiformes, and occupies a unique family, Sagittariidae. As the most bizarre-looking member of the "eagle" family, it is 1.2 meters tall and weighs only 4 kilograms; its thin legs make it look very funny whether it is running or sitting. The Secretary Bird's body is also thin and long, but its wings are very wide when spread out (up to 2 meters).

Secretary bird with a slender body and broad wings | Arno Meintjes Wildlife / Flickr

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified the Secretary Bird as endangered (EN) in 2020. Overgrazing, burning of grasslands and urbanization are affecting the environment in which they live, and humans sometimes interfere with the reproduction of Secretary Birds. Fortunately, the number of Secretary Birds captured and trafficked is not large.

Their colors are very simple, mainly black and gray, with only a circle of orange around the eyes; their calves are wrapped in black feathers, as if they are wearing black shorts. It is also known as the "secretary bird" , which comes from its English name secretary-bird. Why is it called this name? One theory is that "secretary" is the transliteration of the Arabic "hunting bird" (saqr-et-tair); another long-standing and more interesting theory is that this name comes from its most obvious feature besides its long legs: the long black feathers behind its head , like a secretary with a feather pen clipped on his ears, which can be erected to get an afro.

Who is that? | Rolf Dietrich Brecher / Wikipedia Commons

Kung Fu Snake Eagle

The Secretary is a unique resident of Africa, distributed from Mauritania to Somalia, and prefers dry, open grasslands. During the day, they spend most of their time wandering on the grass with their long legs, and can walk 20 kilometers a day (shudder, homebodies); at night, they sleep in acacia trees. Although they like to walk, they can fly well when they need to.

Secretary bird resting in a tree | Bob Nan / Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus

The long legs wading through the grass inevitably startle various small animals (children also use this method to catch insects), and the secretary bird can start eating. Secretary birds eat mice, snakes, lizards, rabbits, insects , and all small animals it can kill. It is said that it has killed cheetah cubs.

Secretary bird and springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) | Andreas Kaufer / Panoramio

Venomous snakes such as cobras and vipers also appear on the menu of secretary birds. The legs of secretary birds are covered with thick scales to prevent bites; however, it is best at attacking rather than defending - kicking with its long legs .

The force of a Secretary Bird's kick reaches 195 Newtons, and the contact time with the prey is only 15 milliseconds, which is only one tenth of the time of blinking an eye. One kick can break the neck of a snake or blow its head off. During the entire kicking process, the Secretary Bird keeps its eyes open . This may be because it needs a high degree of accuracy. When fighting with a venomous snake, any small flaw can be fatal.

Snake? Take my kick, do you think it can be alright? Drawing | Winged Wolf Elang

After killing its prey, the Secretary Bird swallows it whole . Although it has a delicate face, its beak is large. Like other birds of prey, it rolls up undigested bones and feathers and spits them out. The Secretary Bird's hunting habits on the grass are somewhat similar to those of the peacock. The South American Screech Crane (Cariama cristata) and the Black-legged Screech Crane (Chunga burmeisteri) have mastered the flying kicking skill like it, but they are not closely related.

Remember, my name is Jiaohe | Flickr

Husband and wife are of one mind

Secretary birds are monogamous . When courting, they perform dives and aerial reversals like eagles, as well as "ballroom dances" like cranes. The female and male birds work together to build a large, flat nest (up to two and a half meters in diameter) made of branches, usually in an acacia tree .

They lay 1 to 3 eggs in a nest. When the chicks are newly hatched, their parents feed them with semi-digested insects. When they grow up, they eat the minced meat of animals that their parents vomit out. When they grow up even bigger, they feed them whole small animals. It takes 2 months to 100 days for the chicks to grow full feathers and leave the nest. After that, they have to follow their parents for a long time.

Secretary birds have 1 to 3 chicks in a nest | Rudy Erasmus Photography

Secretary birds can live alone, but they often appear together as a couple, sometimes with their underage children. A group can have up to 5 birds. Due to the different distribution densities of food and their kind, the territory of a pair of secretary birds ranges from 20 to 500 square kilometers.

Eight-week-old Secretary Bird chick | San Diego Zoo

Secretary birds are considered slow-growing birds among birds. Because raising chicks requires a lot of time and energy, Secretary bird couples work together to take care of their children, and their mate relationship can last for a long time . This is rare among mammals, but it is very common among birds.

Don’t you think Secretary Eagles are cute? | San Diego Zoo Animals

Author: Red Queen

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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