Tag Archives: secretary bird pictures

Little birds, pretty birds, ugly birds, big birds, not-birds, and really big birds

A selection of birds from the past couple of months, some from Balboa Park, some from the Zoo, some from Mission Bay Park, some from Little Italy.

Hummingbird in storm clouds at Balboa Park

Mallard at Balboa Park

Not-bird (Bird of Paradise flower)

Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot (next two pictures) at the San Diego Zoo

Mallard ducklings (next two pictures) at the San Diego Zoo

Yellow-breasted Fruit Dove at the San Diego Zoo

Flamingo at the San Diego Zoo

Flamingo mommy and egg at the San Diego Zoo

Always someone who has to stand out from the crowd
San Diego Zoo

Mandarin Duck at the San Diego Zoo

California Condor at the San Diego Zoo

Secretary Bird at the San Diego Zoo

Steller’s Sea Eagle at the San Diego Zoo

Great White Pelican at the San Diego Zoo

Great Blue Heron visiting the San Diego Zoo

If you’re not going to share….
Chollas Lake Park

Unknown bird at Mission Bay Park

Flash video of the unknown bird fishing at Mission Bay Park

Black-crowned Night Heron at Mission Bay Park

Surprise
Rose Garden at Balboa Park

Really big bird flying over Little Italy

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I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

Intelligent life, and it’s not in the halls of Congress

35 Replies

I’m pretty much a believer in the intelligence of wildlife.

I think they are a lot more intelligent than we give them credit for.

In fact, maybe man’s simply not intelligent enough to understand what all these other creatures that we share the Earth with are actually thinking.

The Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) at the San Diego Zoo is a great example.

I stood and watched it for almost an hour the other day.

Interestingly, I didn’t connect with it— or did I? An hour with it? — until I got home and saw the pictures I had taken:

The Secretary Bird is a Vulnerable species from Africa. It is related to buzzards and vultures but is the only species in the family Sagittariidae. It gets as tall as four feet with an 87-inch (7¼ feet!) wingspan. They spend most of their time on the ground although roosting in acacia trees.

Adult birds hunt mostly in pairs but sometimes in a loose familial flock. They discover prey by stomping on clumps of vegetation or waiting near wildfires and capturing anything trying to escape. They are known to stomp on their prey until it is stunned or unconscious enough to swallow, and there are unconfirmed reports that they know which snakes are venomous, capturing them, taking flight, and then dropping those snakes to their death before making a meal of them.

Now tell me these birds aren’t intelligent!

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

In a state of ecstacy at the San Diego Zoo

26 Replies

The world is scheduled to end at 12:21 p.m. Pacific Time today but I’m in negotiations with the Mayans to get the end of the world postponed to 3012. They want me to meet at their place for these final negotiations and to bring a sacrificial Republican with me. They are not thrilled with these Republicans. If I’m back at 1:00 p.m., you’ll know that my negotiations were successful and that the sacrificial Republican was acceptable.

Meanwhile, enjoy some pictures of wildlife that make the San Diego Zoo their home.