- Life expectancy
- Migration
Identification
Unmistakable: a grey raptor with long stork-like legs, black feathered trousers, red facial skin and a crest of long feathers. In flight the legs project far beyond the tail, whose two central feathers are elongated.
Colours
Adult
Pale grey body with black flight feathers and black feathered thighs, long pinkish-grey legs and bare orange-red facial skin. A crest of long, black-tipped feathers projects from the back of the head.
Behaviour
Secretarybirds walk up to 30 kilometres a day through the grass and fly only to reach roosting trees or the nest. Pairs stay together and perform undulating display flights with loud calls during courtship.
Breeding & rearing
The broad, flat nest of twigs sits on the crown of an umbrella acacia. The clutch is incubated for around six weeks and the young leave the nest after about three months.
