Secretary Bird

Sagittarius serpentarius

Other Names

    Messager Serpentaire, Messager sagittaire, Serpentaire, Secrétaire   Sekretär   Secretario   Sekreterarfågel   Secretarisvogel   Serpentario

World: Afrotropical, widespread S of 17° except for Southern Somalia and the West African equatorial forests

Kenya: Mostly absent from both Western Kenya and the coast, with only occasional occurrences in the dry, arid north

This is the only member of the family Sagittariidae. It is a large bird of open country, savannah and steppe, which can be seen stalking across the plains in search of rodents, reptiles, large insects and, famously, snakes. It has a surprisingly powerful kick which it uses to stamp on larger prey. In addition to its normal "raptor" type diet it is also attracted to bush and grass fires, where it feeds on the small animals which fail to escape the blaze. Although it is usually seen walking it does have very large, broad wings and is an accomplished flyer, using thermals to gain height and soar across distances. Secretary Birds are territorial, normally occupying areas of around 45-50 square kilometres, interestingly in Kenya they occupy smaller territories. In our experience one of the best places to see it is in Samburu, away from the river in the dry open scrub country near the hills