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Birds
Secretarybird
Secretarybird · Sagittarius serpentarius
The Secretarybird hunts through the savanna on long legs and impresses with its elegant size and unique feather crest.
Fact file
- Size
- Up to 1.20 m tall, wingspan up to 2.20 m, weight usually 3 to 4.5 kg
- Males and females
- Female and male coloured the same, females usually slightly smaller
- Sounds
- Calls are rare; you may sometimes hear soft clattering or hissing when they are agitated
- Diet
- Eats mainly snakes, grasshoppers, small mammals and birds
- Offspring
- 2–3 eggs, incubation period about 45 days, mainly in late spring
How to identify Secretarybird
The Secretarybird is unmistakable with its slender, long-legged build and a shoulder height of about 1.20 metres. Its plumage is mostly grey, with black wings, thighs and the distinctive tail feathers. The wedge-shaped face has striking red-orange patches of bare skin around the eyes.
Typical are the long feathers on the nape, which look like quill pens and give the Secretarybird its name. In flight, its broad wingspan and unusually long, trailing legs are especially noticeable. Its upright stance on the ground is another clear distinguishing feature.
More in the app
With Wildful Stories+ you also get in the app:
- general viewing tips
- 4 places where you can see Secretarybird
Where Secretarybird live
Botswana
Namibia
- Brandberg
- Buffalo Core Area
- Bwabwata Nationalpark
- Caprivi-Streifen
- Damaraland
- Dolomite & Olifantsrus
- Erongo Gebirge
- Etosha Nationalpark
- Fish River Canyon
- Halali
- Hoanib
- Kalahari
- Kaokoland
- Kwando Core Area
- Mahango Core Area
- Mudumu Nationalpark
- Namib-Naukluft
- Namib-Naukluft Nationalpark
- NamibRand Nature Reserve
- Namutoni
- Nkasa Rupara National Park
- Okaukuejo
- Palmwag
- Rundu
- Sossusvlei
- Spitzkoppe
- Twyfelfontein
- Waterberg Plateau
Discover Secretarybird on your trip.
The app shows you where and when to see wildlife along your route.
