the.com/secretarybird
a five-foot raptor that walks instead of soars and kicks snakes to death
means A tall, long-legged African bird of prey that hunts on foot across grasslands, stomping snakes and other small animals to death with powerful strikes.
from The popular story says it's named for the quill-like crest feathers behind its head, which look like the pens that old clerks once tucked behind their ears. A competing theory traces the name to a corruption of the Arabic 'saqr-et-tair,' meaning 'hunting bird,' reshaped by European ears into the familiar 'secretary.' Which came first is genuinely uncertain — but either way the name stuck to this striding, snake-kicking raptor.
- strike force
- Kicks with the force of five times its body weight
- strike speed
- Foot stomps land in 15 milliseconds
- the name
- Possibly from Arabic for hunter-bird, not office quills
- prefers walking
- Strides up to 20 miles daily hunting
- national symbol
- Featured on South Africa's coat of arms
secretary bird — african ground-dwelling bird of prey that stomps on snakes and small mammals with 195 n of force per kick