What will your Secretary be up to in the Grasslands?

This Secretary's Day on 7 September 2011, BirdLife South Africa has a really special gift option for your secretary.  A gift that not only shows your appreciation of her (or him), but also supports a worthwhile conservation programme ... it could even carry their name.

The majestic Secretarybird is in serious decline, particularly in our country's grasslands and is now classified as Globally Vulnerable.

BirdLife South Africa is undertaking a scientific project to assess and understand exactly what is happening to our Secretarybirds.  This is headed up by Dr Hanneline Smit, BirdLife South Africa's Conservation Manager, and will require sophisticated equipment to track the movements of these birds so we can gain valuable information about their lives ... where they go, where they sleep, where they feed, where they breed, where they die and whether they use public land or private land.  These tracking devices are quite costly, with a single device costing R10 000.00. 

Just as we cannot do without our secretaries, the grasslands would be a much poorer place without Secretarybirds.  Supporting this conservation project is a wonderful way to honour your secretary and recognise her (or his) value to you and your company.

Make Secretary's Day 2011 a memorable one for both species!

You can support this project in three different ways:

• A donation of R500-00 towards a tracking device. For this, you and other joint contributors receive weekly logs and feedback on a nominated bird’s movements.
• A donation of R1 000-00 towards a tracking device. For this, you and other joint contributors receive weekly logs and feedback on a nominated bird’s movements, plus a Wings1 Gift Membership to BirdLife South Africa.
• A donation of R10 000-00 buys a tracking device. For this, you GET TO NAME THE BIRD (in honour of your secretary), and you also receive weekly logs and feedback on your bird’s movements, plus a Wings2 Gift Membership to BirdLife South Africa.

Download the donation form here

Please send your completed form and proof of payment to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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More about the Secretarybird

The popular origin of the name comes from Victorian times, as it resembled the secretaries of that time (which were mostly men) as they traditionally carried their quill pens sticking out behind their wigs.

The Secretarybird Saggittarius serpentarius has shown a decline in numbers and presence across its range in South Africa over the last decade, with the most pronounced and drastic disappearance in grasslands. This quirky, charismatic bird is easily recognized by its large upright stature, grey waistcoat with black upper legs and skinny lower legs. It is however, threatened throughout its range, specifically in grasslands, by a number of factors, including habitat fragmentation and degradation through agricultural and commercial forestry development.

Secretarybirds are particularly sensitive to human interference, and prone to displacement in areas of urban activity. Other threats include the illegal use of poison, and collisions with power lines. Consequently, Secretarybirds are listed as Near-Threatened regionally in South Africa, and the species has been uplisted globally to Vulnerable in 2011.

The underlying cause of decline for many grassland bird species can be ascribed to intensified livestock grazing and unnatural fire outbreaks. It is no different for Secretarybirds, which can also be regarded as an indicator species of an intact grassland ecosystem.

The Grassland Biome is endemic to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. It spans over 16.5% of South Africa’s land surface. Although grassland is one of only three endemic biomes in South Africa, only 2% of grassland is formally protected, whereas 65% of the grassland habitat is exploited and fragmented for urban and agricultural development, mining and commercial forestry. Of South Africa’s 841 bird species, 350 are found in the Grassland Biome, 29 of which are of global and/or regional conservation concern, 10 are endemic/near endemic species, and as many as 40 are true grassland species (exclusively dependent on grassland habitat). The five true grassland endemic bird species rank in the top 25% on BirdLife South Africa’s priority list.

There is currently no formalised conservation effort or research project to ensure the survival of Secretarybirds in South Africa. Consequently, BirdLife South Africa has identified the need to monitor and survey numbers, survival rate, population trends and nesting/breeding success of Secretarybirds in grasslands.