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Art by Barry Kent MacKay

(Artwork - 253)
Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius)

“Madcap” conveys, to me, the manner in which the Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) behaves on the ground, especially when, as I tried to show in this small oil painting, they are subduing prey.

Placed in its own family, Sagittariidae, the Secretarybird (also spelled Secretary Bird) is in the order Accipitriformes, sharing very distant ancestry with hawks and eagles. But Secretarybirds have evolved very long legs and short, stubby toes, imparting a dramatically unique appearance. The species is mostly terrestrial, and the long legs allow Secretarybirds to see over the tops of grass in the savannahs and veldts they mostly inhabit. They have a fan of erectable crown feathers that vaguely resemble the long pens 19th century secretaries used to stick into their hair for easy access, or perhaps the quill pens of ancient scribes. (In fact, my great aunt, Faith Fenton, first woman journalist to cover the Yukon, was photographed with just such a pen, some of which I now own, stuck behind her ear! (see here, click on the photo of the book). This, of course, is the origin of the common name. The species is found only in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is now listed as endangered.

A true raptor, the Secretarybird will eat any small animal that can be caught including rodents and other mammals, lizards, baby birds, and large insects, but they are especially adept at killing snakes, including venomous species. Other raptors catch and hold their prey, but Secretarybirds dash madly about, snatch and toss their prey as they dance and leap, broad wings flopping, gradually wearing down and lethally beating the snake with a series of blows in a high energy endeavor that you can see online. The feet hit the snake with a force equal to the body weight, times five! Contact with the snake is only 10 to 15 milliseconds.

I have shown the bird with a Karoo Sand Snake (Psammophis notostictus), which is mildly venomous. That puts the scene in the southwestern corner of Africa, where the snake is found, perhaps Namibia.

While generally protected (and under full legal protection) because of their proclivity for eating poisonous snakes such as adders and cobras, and their striking appearance, Secretarybirds are in decline due to habitat fragmentation and overgrazing of grassy habitat by livestock.

The painting is on canvas backed by cardboard and is in oils, approximately 12 by 16 inches.

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