Ashlea Dennison witnessed such a moment in the Kruger National Park.
Two of Africa’s most iconic birds meet
These iconic birds crossed paths in this rare sighting.
Their sheer size made them easy for Ashlea to sight as her vehicle moved through the reserve during a game viewing expedition.
The Secretary Bird is a large raptor which spends most of its time walking through grasslands hunting snakes, lizards, insects, and small mammals. It is known for its long legs and powerful kicks, which it uses to kill prey.
As one of Africa’s most distinctive birds, it is instantly recognisable because of its unusual combination of eagle-like and crane-like features.
It stands about 1,2 to 1,5 metres tall, making it one of the tallest birds of prey in the world. Its body is mostly covered in pale grey feathers, while its flight feathers and thighs are black. The bird’s long legs give it a stilted appearance as it strides across grasslands.
The Kori Bustard (right) is one of the heaviest flying birds in the world. It stands about 90 to 120 centimetres tall and can weigh up to 18 kilograms or more, with males being much larger than females. It has a broad body, thick neck, and sturdy legs that give it a powerful, stocky appearance.
It is not a predator and mainly feeds on insects, seeds, small reptiles, and other small animals. Despite its size, it generally avoids conflict.
A chance encounter in the bushveld
At first, the birds seemed unperturbed by the other’s presence. However, this soon changed. The Secretary Bird stretched out its large wings and started to move in a dance-like fashion.
The Kori Bustard was much more composed, initially. Its tactic seemed to be to puff out its feathers and tail to appear larger than it was.
The Secretary Bird danced around while the Kori Bustard stood statuesque in the grass. However, it appeared the Kori Bustard had a tolerance threshold and eventually moved in retaliation to the Secretary Bird’s threatening gestures.
Secretary Bird stretches out wings in territorial display
Both species of birds can become quite territorial during the breeding season.
Both birds displayed typical territorial behaviour. The Secretary Bird spread out its wings, and made threatening movements. The Kori Bustard spread out its tail feathers and puffed itself up, moving with slower movements than the Secretary Bird, but nonetheless, holding its ground.
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In addition to becoming more aggressive during breeding season, both birds will also show more threatening behaviour if defending a nest or hunting area.
When this is the case, the Secretary Bird will make threatening movements and in rare confrontations, can make powerful kicks.
This one showed off the power of its impressive wings, and hissed at the poor Kori Bustard.
Secretary Bird determined to show itself as ‘boss’
When these impressive ground-dwelling birds encounter one another, the sighting of them together is typically fascinating rather than dangerous.
While the Secretary Bird was quite clear that it disapproved of the Kori Bustard being in the vicinity, it didn’t kick out at the bird or attack it. However, it definitely kicked up a song and dance!
The Kori Bustard put on its own display of intimidation, even though it wasn’t quite as skilled a dancer as the ruffled-up Secretary Bird.
Both birds, however, put on a memorable show. Fortunately, no bird was hurt in the making of this video!
More spectacular sightings for bird lovers
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