secretary bird

American  

noun

1. a large, long-legged, raptorial bird, Sagittarius serpentarius, of Africa, that feeds on reptiles.

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secretary bird British  

noun

1. a large African long-legged diurnal bird of prey, Sagittarius serpentarius, having a crest and tail of long feathers and feeding chiefly on snakes: family Sagittariidae, order Falconiformes (hawks, falcons, etc)

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Etymology

Origin of secretary bird

1790–1800; < French secrétaire, perhaps by folk etymology < Sudanese Arabic ṣagr al-ṭēr, equivalent to ṣagr hawk + al the + ṭēr birds (collective)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

secretary bird

Picture a sea of chest-high elephant grass, swirling brown rivers, ribbons of papyrus and the occasional black-and-white secretary bird swooping elegantly through rose-colored skies.

From New York Times ● Sep. 4, 2012

"Oh, what is a secretary bird?" interrupted Franz.

From The Swiss Family Robinson or, Adventures on a Desert Island by Jean Rudolph Wyss

The secretary bird is so called on account of that crest at the back of his head, which looks something like a pen stuck behind the ear.

From In the Wilds of Africa by Alfred Pearse

It might as well be claimed that the secretary bird is a "natural sower of serpents," as that many of the grain-eating birds are "the natural sowers of seeds."

From Life: Its True Genesis by R. W. Wright

Here, for the first time, I saw the secretary bird, known to the Arabs as the "Devil's horse."

From The Nile tributaries of Abyssinia, and the sword hunters of the Hamran arabs by Sir Samuel White Baker

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