The Secretary bird in Uganda, These raptors of sub-Saharan Africa’s savannas, grasslands, and shrub lands stand at nearly four feet tall—and standing is often how you’ll find them, because they primarily move around on foot. They fly only when necessary, such as to reach their nest in the trees and for courtship displays.
The secretary birds can be found in Uganda in Kidepo valley national park and some time come to Murchison falls national park but mostly found in desert area Mirama hills safaris is welcoming you for birding trip in uganda you will see number of birds since uganda is a bird paradise having 1072 recorded birds species in the country.
The secretary bird is distinguished by its long legs and a dramatic black crest of feathers on the back of its head. Its body is covered in whitish-gray feathers, with two long, black-tipped tail feathers. Its bare face is usually yellow, orange or red.
The top half of its long legs has black feathers, so it looks a bit like its wearing bicycle shorts. The lower half is covered with scales and has barely visible feathers.
While it’s not known for certain where the name “secretary bird” comes from, one explanation is that they’re named after 19th lawyer’s clerks, or secretaries. Secretaries typically wore gray coats and knee-length black pants, and they would tuck quill pens behind their ears, similar to the bird’s coloring and head feather
Another theory is that “secretary bird” is an English-language corruption of saqr et-tair—roughly meaning “hunter bird” in Arabic—a phrase one traveler claims to have heard Arabic-speaking people in Sudan call it. That explanation, however, has been called into doubt by some experts.
Secretary birds and caracaras are the only two birds of prey that hunt on the ground instead of from the air. Secretary birds’ diets consist of small rodents, amphibians, and reptiles.
Working in small groups or with a partner, secretary birds hunt from just after dawn through to the evening, resting only during the peak heat of the afternoon. They sometimes capture prey by striking at it with their short, hooked beaks, but more famously, secretary birds use their large feet and sharp claws to stomp it to death.
Snakes are a favorite meal, and in fact, “the archer of snakes.” If a snake tries striking a secretary bird, it usually ends up with a mouthful of feathers from the bird’s almost seven-foot wingspan, the scales on their lower legs provide additional protection from snakebites.
Mating displays take place both in the air and on the ground. The bird will swoop down, and then up again, repeating the undulating pattern over and over. Sometimes one will dive at the other, who will roll backward in the air, presenting its claws.
The female usually lays three blue-green eggs, which both parents incubate. When the eggs hatch after about 50 days, both parents care for the chicks, including feeding them regurgitated prey. The young birds fledge after about three months.
Human encroachment on secretary birds’ natural habitat some of its grasslands habitat has been burned and cleared for livestock. Those open areas making it hard for secretary birds to find food. Some secretary birds can make do in human-created open areas by scavenging small animals that didn’t escape the fires or other predators. The presence of humans—mainly herders—is known to interfere with secretary bird breeding.
Secretary birds can be found in a number of protected areas across their large range, but scientists say better monitoring is needed to track their numbers and quantify their decline in some areas.
As for predators of secretary birds themselves, they are almost entirely unknown. Secretary birds may be able to fly away from dangers on the ground such as jackals, caracals, leopards and honey badgers (all known predators of large birds of prey) although some of these can also attack birds in trees.
The secretary bird’s average lifespan is thought to be 12 to 15 years in the wild and may go up to 19 years in captivity.
