Secretary Bird — printable fact sheet
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Secretary Bird
Sagittarius serpentarius
The secretary bird is a bird of prey that gave up hunting on the wing and took up walking instead. It strides across African grassland on long, stilt-like legs, covering many kilometres a day, flushing prey out of the grass, and then kills with its feet: a stamp delivered in rou…
Did you know?
- Despite their impressive size and fierce hunting skills, Secretary Birds are capable of flight and can soar great distances, though they prefer to walk while hunting.
- It kills snakes by stamping — a strike delivered in about ten to fifteen milliseconds, too fast to be aimed by feedback. That stamp lands with several times the bird's own body weight of force. Its long legs keep its body out of striking range while it does it. It is a raptor that hunts almost entirely on foot, walking many kilometres a day.
What I learned
Draw the secretary bird
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