Zoo News

The Secretary Bird
Imagine my surprise when I saw that the February 2009 issue of Zoo News had a Secretary Bird on the cover! I saw Secretary Birds in the Serengeti. "Why Secretary?" we asked. Wouldn’t you ask the same question? The feathery cap looks like a quill pen, apparently, and a quill pen is associated with writing, as a secretary would do. What I liked best was that the bird hunted for snakes and lizards. I only saw it walking on the ground, not flying. If I had seen a snake, my heart would have likely stopped. The hotel information at the lodge built into a rocky kopje in the Serengeti advised that there was a resident python in the rocks around the pool. I never walked the path without looking very carefully and with my heart pounding a little faster than usual. No pythons for me, I chanted under my breath. I would have been glad of a Secretary Bird nearby.