On the fourth morning of our surprise trip to Mashatu in February this year, we were fortunate enough to see a Secretarybird on two separate occasions. The first was fleeting but the second gave us an opportunity to watch an adult Secretarybird hunting for about 45 minutes and it was fascinating to watch. As good as any mammal sighting.

“You never know what may cross your path and fuel the wildness of your soul.” ~ Robbie George

The Secretarybird is instantly recognisable as a very large terrestrial bird with an eagle-like head and body on crane-like legs. This raptor stands as much as 130 cm high. It is usually seen singly wandering across its hunting ground.

Unlike most aerial hunting raptors which catch their prey in mid-air, Secretarybirds are almost strictly terrestrial hunters and are diurnal (daytime) raptors. They often begin hunting and foraging for food before dawn returning to their resting area in the late afternoon. The high kicking stomp is regularly used to disable its prey.

We first saw this Secretarybird walking below a rocky ridge looking for grasshoppers, lizards and snakes and perhaps even small birds. Having little luck it crested the ridge to get a better view of the surroundings. Secretarybirds prefer savannas, scrub, and grasslands with scattered small thorn trees, and open patches in forests and woodlands, so Mashatu is an ideal habitat.

“If you eyes are opened, you’ll see the things worth seeing.” ~ Rumi

Being mainly terrestrial, Secretarybirds take to flight only to traverse difficult terrain or when threatened. The Secretarybird is a strong flyer. It can soar to great heights and cover long distances using its long wings with slotted primaries. Its preference is for prey that typically follows local cycles which dictates that it is quite nomadic in its habits, especially in drier regions.

This Secretarybird flew to a group of decent sized bushes further and lower down the rocky ridge. Balance becomes an issue for a tall raptor trying to land on flimsy branches. Its long wings helped but this individual struggled to stay balanced.

The plumage of this unique raptor’s crown, upperparts, and lesser and median wing coverts is blue-grey, and the underparts and underwing coverts are lighter grey to grey-white. The crest is made up of 20 long black feathers, resembling quills, growing from the nape. The scapulars, primary and secondary flight feathers, rump and thighs are black, while the uppertail coverts are white. It has grey rectrices which have a trailing black edge and in the centre of the tail two streamer feathers, which project around 50 per cent beyond the longest of the other rectrices.

“Balance is not something you find, it’s something you create.” ~ Jana Kingsford

After a minute of so of struggling to find a stable footing, this Secretarybird flew further down the ridge to more prominent bushes. Its short toes reduce its ability to grasp objects with its feet, especially thin branches.

It landed on top of a reasonable sized Shepherd tree and again struggled to find purchase and its balance. Although unmistakably raptorial there are several other aspects of its morphology which differ markedly from those of any other living bird of prey. Its long pink stilt-like legs are well protected from snake or lizard bites by a layer of thick scales. The toes are short with the hind toe being particularly reduced, and the talons blunt. Both features adapted to the terrestrial lifestyle of this ‘marching eagle’, and make effective stomping weapons.

There is a degree of sexual dimorphism in Secretarybirds with males being slightly larger than females and having longer wings and longer central streamer tail feathers. The male has a shorter more rounded head and more blue-grey upperparts plumage. Both adults have bare facial skin around the beak and eyes. The facial skin is yellow around the gape and cere, and red-orange around the eye. The eyes have unusually long eyelashes. The male has less extensive bare facial skin behind his eyes. So this wanderer looked to be a male.

“Glittering eyes in the wilderness is the poetry of nature in motion.” ~ Robbie George

When hunting, the Secretarybird strides across the landscape, arching its head back and forward like a metronome, in an immediately recognisable gait. Secretarybirds are estimated to walk at an pace of around 2.5 to 3.0 km per hour so can cover up between 20 and 30 kilometres a day.

This raptor species captures small prey, like insects, by simply bending forward and grabbing them with its beak before swallowing them whole. When the Secretarybird encounters larger prey, it compensates for the loss of grasping toes and sharp talons by stamping powerfully and accurately with its feet to dispatch its quarry.

These raptors are known to stomp on the ground close to shrubs where animals may hide to flush prey out into the open where they are more easily caught. The taxonomic name for the Secretarybird, Sagittarius serpentarius, translates as ‘the archer of snakes’ and reflects this bird’s ability to kill even dangerous venomous species of snake using its characteristic stomping technique.

When hunting, Secretarybirds stride across the ground looking for something edible. Once found, they stomp on it until it is dead or knock it down with a speedy kick. This method of hunting is commonly applied to lizards or snakes. It has a quick, powerful kick equivalent to a force equal to five times its own body weight. This hunter also uses its wings for balance in the attack. Although the Secretarybird has a reputation for killing snakes, including venomous ones, it seldom finds and targets them.

“Nature is the candle of inspiration that ignites the wildness of your soul.” ~ Robbie George

Secretarybirds can chase after their prey at high speeds, using their wings to boost speed and give added balance while running to catch its quarry.

Quite a lot of effort for a medium-sized grasshopper. With very short toes and limited grasping ability, rather than carrying prey away with its feet like other birds of prey, the Secretarybird tends to eat it immediately or carry it away in its beak. Secretarybirds normally eat their prey whole, although if too big they will hold it down with their feet whilst tearing it apart, similar to other birds of prey.

As Secretarybirds stride through the grasslands they do not get it all their own way. They are dive bombed by starlings and lapwings all trying to chase them away from their nests and young.

“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest.” ~ Sir David Attenborough.

Birdlife’s “Bird of the Year 2019” article highlighted that the Secretarybird was facing a bleak future. The Secretarybird’s global conservation status was last assessed in April 2020 and its status was elevated from vulnerable (in 2016) to Endangered. Unfortunately, the Secretarybird’s range is decreasing rapidly, especially in recent decades, from countries such as South Africa, Botswana and Tanzania. It has even dwindled dramatically in the Kruger National Park, one of Africa’s largest protected areas due to bush encroachment and an increase in the tall vegetation cover, resulting in loss of open habitat that the species prefers. Secretarybirds are intrinsically reliant on wide expanses of suitable habitat, so increasing human activities such as intensive crop farming, overgrazing, commercial afforestation and sprawling urban and rural human settlement are reducing, fragmenting and degrading the Secretarybird’s supporting landscapes at an accelerating rate.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike