Chrysti The Wordsmith: Secretary Bird

Greetings verb of yours this is Christie Smith Christie the wordsmith from Montana State University in Bozeman. The secretary bird native to South Africa. Looks like the hatchling of a midnight rendezvous between an eagle a cockatoo a vulture and an ostrich like the eagle the secretary bird is a raptor that soars on a seven foot wingspan and sports an aqua lean beak for tearing out its prey like the vulture it has patches of bare red skin on its face. And like the ostrich this bird is a swift runner on long slender legs though it's an excellent flier the secretary bird prefers a terrestrial lifestyle. It moves through tall savanna grasses in search of lizards tortoises insects and small birds. It's also famous for capturing snakes which the bird incapacitates with the kicks and stomps of its powerful feet. Attached to the back of the secretary bird's head and neck as a crest of long black tipped feathers which gives the creature a cockatoo like appearance. The spray of feathers at the bird's neck suggested a name to the first English

speakers to encounter the bird in the eighteenth century evoking the secretaries of the seventeen hundreds who stuck an abundance of feathered quill pens behind their ears or in their powdered wigs. Secretary bird a delightful moniker. This is Christy the wordsmith. This programme is recorded and produced in the studios of fam on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman. The website for the series is wordsmith radio dot org. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.