If you hate snakes, then I have the bird for you!
The Secretary Bird’s taxonomic name is “sagittarius sepentarius,” which translates to “the archer of snakes.” And, no, they don’t use snakes as arrows in target practice, but excellent and creative guess! The Secretary Bird is a magnificent snake hunter. They have many tools in their arsenal against snakes, one being long, heavily scaled legs (the longest legs of any predatory bird). They look like an eagle on top and a crane on the bottom.
There are two theories on the origin of the name “Secretary Bird”:
1. The feathers on the back of their head (a crest) reminded 19th century naturalists of the quill pens secretaries tucked behind their ears. Nerds.
2. The name derives from the Arabic “saqr-et-tair,” which translates to “hunter bird.”
Whatever you want to call them, they are beautiful, elegant, enormous, and super cool.
Animals for Sam 