00:00This is Karani, and she's a nine-year-old secretary bird here at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
00:05While she might not look exactly like your everyday raptor, she fits into the group in her own unique way.
00:12Secretary birds are highly terrestrial and spend most of the time on the ground,
00:16and those classic sharp talons that we all associate with other members of the raptor family,
00:21like owls or falcons, have been modified over time to be a lot shorter and stronger
00:26to allow the secretary bird to walk and run in the bush.
00:30But these feet aren't just made for walking. They're also perfectly designed for stomping.
00:35That's right. These birds can secure a meal by swiftly and accurately stomping on their prey.
00:40And one of their favorite food items to hunt in the wild are snakes.
00:44But don't panic, kids. No snakes will be harmed in today's stomping demonstration.
00:48Karani will be showing off this technique on a plastic snake.
01:05Each stomp hits with a force of five times the bird's own body weight,
01:09and only remains in contact with the prey for about 10 to 15 milliseconds.
01:14They use their incredible raptor vision to target the precise location of the prey's head.
01:20So now do you see why those long legs come in handy?
01:22And standing four feet above your prey is ideal, especially when the food item can be highly venomous.
01:29Secretary birds certainly have a taste for danger.
01:32They can successfully hunt and consume venomous snakes.
01:36They flop their feathers as a distraction while they focus on avoiding a bite.
01:40If their feathers get bitten in the process, it won't harm the bird, making them a pretty impressive African raptor.
01:47Instead of being very active, there's no risk that we have access to the outside of the night.
01:47And even if you have to go any questions, you try to keep our Facיinoids.
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