Secretary bird

(Jrt)

Secretary bird
The messenger sagittaire (Sagittarius serpentarius) is the official name given by the CINFO the bird most often called secretary or in the form of serpentaire ambiguous. It is the sole representative of the family Sagittariidae.

Appearance and behavior
This measure diurnal bird of prey between 125-150 cm. He has a hooked beak and long legs of wader resemble those of the stork. His neck is adorned with long black feathers forming a loose behind the crested head and its tail door long rectrices medians. To fly it is forced to start a race. But once aloft, it easily plane.

Distribution
It is endemic to the area of Ethiopia (Sub-Saharan Africa), both in forested areas in the savannah or the steppe.

Food
It eats grasshoppers, turtles, rodents, snakes, lizards and small vertebrates.
Excellent walker, serpentaire can travel about 25 km per day in the savannah for food. It strikes its prey in one fell swoop of legs. When he attacked the snakes, it uses its wings as a shield.

Reproduction
He built a nest of twigs in a dead tree. Two small are raised each year.

Perhaps
It is often also called the secretary, the term seems to be a deflection from Arabic saqr-tair which means "bird-hunter". The French expression is at the root of most common names in other European languages. The name of serpentaire just his fondness for snakes, but it is better to reserve that designation for raptors of the family accipitridés.

Culture
The messenger sagittaire appears on the emblems of Sudan and a figure that is clearly visible on the arms of South Africa.

Read also Beo

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