What bird wears a long gray coat and black knee pants? Well, not really, but the bird’s long gray tail feathers look like a coat and the black leg feathers resemble pants.
No one is quite sure where the Secretary birds got their name. There are a few theories, including that it was named by Dutch Settlers because of its resemblance to 19th Century Lawyers’ Secretaries. Another theory suggests that the name is a corruption of an originally Arabic word, meaning “hunter bird”.
They can fly, but rarely do. They move around on foot most of the time looking for small animals or bugs. They generally only take to the air to reach their nests or for courtship displays.
The Secretary Bird’s scientific name means “the archer of snakes”. This is because they love to hunt snakes, but do hunt insects and small mammals. They are an African bird of prey and are related to birds like vultures, hawks, and harriers. It has the body of an eagle, but the legs of a crane.
They are one of just two birds of prey that hunt on the ground (the other – caracaras). Secretary birds preferred habitat is open savannas or grasslands in sub-Saharan areas. They roost in tall trees at night to sleep.
They have one of the strongest and fastest kicks in the animal kingdom. They can kick with a force 5-6 times their body weight. It happens fast. In 15 milliseconds the foot can go from still to making contact.
These long legs make it tall, sometimes over 4 feet and can walk up to 20 miles per day. They have a wingspan of about 6.6 feet and use their wings while hunting to distract their prey and during mating rituals.
They hunt in pairs, whether as a monogamous pair or as mates. Sometimes familiar groups will hunt together. Secretary birds peck at their prey to kill it or stomp on it with their feet. They use their large wingspan and puff their feathers out to distract the snake, while their scaly legs prevent snake bites. The snakes often appear to bite the feathers instead of the bird. They have been spotted hunting juvenile big cats by using their stomping technique to kill juvenile cheetahs, and also baby gazelles.
They have an elaborate mating display. Even though they mate for life, they still perform their elaborate mating displays yearly. They will perform “pendulum flights”, swooping up and down again. And on the ground, they dance together.
Secretary birds have large territories. Pairs of secretary birds will inhabit, and defend, areas of up to 30 miles. However, many can be spotted together around important resources, such as watering holes.
Couples work together to make their nests on the top of thorny trees. This is almost always in an acacia tree. The nests are large, platform-like and often softened with grass and dung. The nests are made from sticks, leaves, animal fur, poop and feathers. They use the same nest year after year.
2-3 blue-green egg that are a few inches long are laid each summer and hatch after 45 days of incubation. When the eggs hatch, the parents feed the babies mashed up insects.
They live 10-15 years in the wild and up to 19 in captivity. These beautiful birds are endangered because their grassland habitats are being cleared and used for cattle.
Then we come to the Kiwi. The Kiwi is truly unique. It has tiny wings, but cannot fly due to their small wings and underdeveloped breast bone. It has loose feathers that are more like fur and unlike other birds, the feathers molt throughout the year. It is nocturnal and only lives in New Zealand.
Kiwi have very small eyes and their visual fields are the smallest that have been recorded in any bird. They also have the smallest beaks in the world and are the only bird with nostrils at the end of its beak. Its sense of smell is second to none with excellent hearing.
Kiwi lack tails but have strong, muscular legs that make up nearly a third of their body weight. They can run quickly and use their legs and claws during fights. On each foot there are three forward-facing toes, one backward-facing toe, and a small spur on the back. Their fleshy foot pads allow them to walk almost silently through the forest.
There are five types of kiwi: Brown Kiwi, Great Spotted Kiwi, Little Spotted Kiwi, Rowi and Tokoeka. The Rowi is the rarest type of kiwi, with only 450 still alive in New Zealand today.
Kiwi are related to emu and the extinct moa. Their closest relative is the elephant bird from Madagascar. The smallest adult measures 14-18 inches and weighs 2 – 4 pounds – about the size of a chicken. Whereas the largest is 20-25 inches tall and weighs 3-10 pounds. They live in burrows and dens on the forest floor.
They’re named after a sound they make – a shrieky half-scream, half whistle call that sounds like “kee-wee, kee-wee.” This sound helps them keep track of each other at night, when they’re active. Kiwi can also grunt, snort, snuffle, and hiss.
Kiwi birds are monogamous. The male kiwi will follow the female around, grunting at her until she notices him. Kiwi mate 2-3 times per night during the peak of the breeding season for 3 weeks until an egg is made. It has the second largest egg for the body size of any bird. The egg is an average of 15 percent of their body weight, compared to 2 percent in the ostrich.
The males actually sit on the egg until it hatches. Once the female kiwi lays her egg, the male takes over so the female can forage for food. Because the egg has taken up so much room in her body and her stomach has shrunk so much, she desperately needs to refuel.
Brown Kiwi are forced to leave the nest at 4-6 weeks old, so the burrow can be readied for another egg. Great Spotted Kiwi may stay in the nest for a year or longer, and Rowi and Stewart Island tokoeka can remain with their parents for up to seven years.
How kiwi reached New Zealand is still a mystery. There are three main debates; the first, is that kiwi’s ancestor was already around when New Zealand broke away from Antarctica and Australia 60 million years ago. The second debate is that as the land broke away, kiwi walked from island to island as the land rose and fell, eventually arriving in New Zealand. The third is that the kiwi’s ancestor flew from island to island to reach New Zealand. There is evidence to suggest this is possible, however, the truth still remains a mystery.
Before people populated the land, kiwi lived without land-mammal predators or competitors. The lifespan of kiwi both in the wild and in captivity can be up to 60 years. The wild population is declining at a rate of approximately 5.8 percent a year. Today, invasive species such as dogs, cats and stoats (a type of weasel) have devastated populations of all five kiwi species. Nearly 90 percent of brown kiwi chicks are killed by stoats and cats in unprotected areas.
In 1975, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo became the first organization outside of New Zealand to hatch a brown kiwi. Today only five zoos outside of New Zealand have successfully bred kiwis.