Secretary Birds

Secretary birds are the only species in the family Sagittariadae. They are unlike any other birds of prey, they have long legs. These long legs allow them to run very fast, using this as a means of escaping predation. They also have a seven foot (2.1 meter wingspan.) They stand around four feet (1.2 meters) tall and their legs are armored to withstand venomous snake bites, because snakes are part of this animal's diet. They are grey, with black on their wings, thighs, and part of their tail. They males are slightly larger than the females. They get their names from the feathers on ther heads that resemble the quill-pens used by secretaries in the 19th century. They are found on only one continent naturaly, Africa, but only south of the Sahara desert. They live in savanna or plains. They prefer to walk instead of fly but they can still fly, just like every other healthy bird of prey although they do soar. As far as it's diet goes, it eats mainly snakes, small mamals, amphibians, reptiles, and other birds, they stomp on their prey to kill. They will hunt in pairs, singly, or in groups up to five of six. They work it out so that in the prey goes in one direction, usually one of the group members will get it. Secretary birds mate for life like eagles, also like eagles they usualy use the same nest, which are added on to every year, making them grow. They nest mainly in acacia trees and the 2-3 eggs take less than two months to hatch, around 50 days. They leave the nest in 65-80 after hatching and are idependent not long after. It's call sounds like hoarse croaking.