secretary bird

See also: secretarybird

English

geographic distribution of the secretary bird

secretary bird

Alternative forms

secretarybird

Etymology

Probably so named because its crest of long feathers resembles quill pens stuck behind the ears of an office clerk. Alternatively, possibly from Arabic صَقْر اَلطَّائِر (ṣaqr aṭ-ṭāʔir, “hunter bird”), from صَقْر (ṣaqr, “falcon, hawk”) طَائِر (ṭāʔir, “bird”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛkɹəˌtɛɹɪ bɜːd/

Noun

secretary bird (plural secretary birds)

A large terrestrial bird of prey, Sagittarius serpentarius, native to Africa with very long legs that preys on reptiles, especially snakes.

Translations

member of bird family

Afrikaans: sekretarisvoël (af)
Amharic: please add this translation if you can
Arabic: كَاتِب (ar) m (kātib)
Bari: please add this translation if you can
Bulgarian: пти́ца-секрета́р f (ptíca-sekretár)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 蛇鷲／蛇鹫 (shéjiù), 鷺鷹／鹭鹰 (lùyīng), 秘書鳥／秘书鸟 (mìshūniǎo)
Dutch: secretarisvogel (nl) m, secretaris (nl) m
Finnish: sihteerilintu (fi), sihteeri (fi)
French: messager sagittaire (fr) m, messager secrétaire m, messager serpentaire m
German: Sekretär (de) m
Hungarian: kígyászkeselyű (hu)
Irish: rúnaí m
Japanese: ヘビクイワシ (ja) (hebikuiwashi)
Korean: 뱀잡이수리 (baemjabisuri)
Manx: screeudeyr m
Murle: please add this translation if you can
Navajo: giní jáádnézí
Nuer: please add this translation if you can
Portuguese: secretário (pt) m, serpentário m
Romanian: pasăre secretar f
Russian: пти́ца-секрета́рь (ru) f (ptíca-sekretárʹ)
Southwestern Dinka: adhil
Spanish: serpentario m
Swahili: ndege katibu
Swedish: sekreterarfågel c
West Flemish: please add this translation if you can
Zande: please add this translation if you can