Saturday, January 19, 2013

At first glance, it may appear that this bird is wearing biking shorts.

This is the secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius). With its long legs, the secretarybird resembles a crane. However, it is actually a bird of prey. While most birds of prey prefer to do their hunting aerially, the secretarybird is a terrestrial predator.

It has been described to be a 'long-legged marching eagle' that is able to eat absolutely anything that it manages to kill. It forages by stalking across 20-30km of open country. It has been known to eat small mammals, birds, eggs, reptiles (including venomous snakes), amphibians and a variety of small invertebrates.

When a secretarybird encounters a snake, it uses its long legs to deliver stamping blows to the snake’s head. To ensure that it remains balanced, it spreads its wings wide. In order to make absolutely sure that the snake is dead, secretarybirds have been known to drop snakes from a height first before actually consuming them.

Read all about it: http://bit.ly/VzQrpA

A video of a secretarybird attacking a snake: http://bit.ly/WcU0zv

Image credit: http://bit.ly/VQc6uS
At first glance, it may appear that this bird is wearing biking shorts.

This is the secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius). With its long legs, the secretarybird resembles a crane. However, it is actually a bird of prey. While most birds of prey prefer to do their hunting aerially, the secretarybird is a terrestrial predator.

It has been described to be a 'long-legged marching eagle' that is able to eat absolutely anything that it manages to kill. It forages by stalking across 20-30km of open country. It has been known to eat small mammals, birds, eggs, reptiles (including venomous snakes), amphibians and a variety of small invertebrates.

When a secretarybird encounters a snake, it uses its long legs to deliver stamping blows to the snake’s head. To ensure that it remains balanced, it spreads its wings wide. In order to make absolutely sure that the snake is dead, secretarybirds have been known to drop snakes from a height first before actually consuming them.

Read all about it: http://bit.ly/VzQrpA

A video of a secretarybird attacking a snake: http://bit.ly/WcU0zv

Image credit: http://bit.ly/VQc6uS

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