09/08/2024
Crazy name: The secretary bird’s English name was once thought to come from the 1800s, when Europeans first spotted these birds. Back then, male secretaries wore gray tailcoats and dark knee-length pants. They also used goose-quill pens that they carried behind their ears. This long-legged bird shares many of these same physical features: long, dark quills at the back of the head; long, gray wing and tail feathers that resemble a tailcoat; and black feathers that go midway down the legs like short pants. It's fun to imagine how the two "secretaries" compare!
Secretary birds are distantly related to buzzards, vultures, harriers, and kites. But unlike their raptor cousins, secretary birds spend most of their time on the ground.
But can they fly? Of course! They may spend their days on the ground, but secretary birds are good fliers and nest and roost high up in acacia trees at night. In flight, their long legs trail behind them in the air.