By TOSHIYUKI TAKEYA/ Staff Writer
November 5, 2021 at 10:00 JST
Editor's note: This is part of a series of videos offering an up-close perspective on the animal kingdom. A special 360-degree video camera system was set up in zoos and other facilities to show how the animals view their world as they interact.
Also visit our special 360-DEGREE LIVES page (http://t.asahi.com/360lives), where you can watch all the previous videos.
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Sporting orange skin around its eyes and walking gracefully with its slender legs, the secretarybird is referred to as the "most beautiful bird" in the world.
The large bird of prey inhabits sub-Saharan Africa, measuring 1 to 1.5 meters in length and weighing 2 to 4 kilograms.
It is also characterized by its grayish coat, black flight feathers and long eyelashes. Its name is said to have derived from the crest of feathers at the back of the head, which is suggestive of a quill.
Tobu Zoo in Miyashiro, Saitama Prefecture, keeps six secretarybirds for exhibition. The zoo is making efforts to breed the endangered species.
When the camera was installed inside an enclosure where three individuals born at the zoo were exhibited, they appeared cautious and kept a distance from the unfamiliar object.
One of them eventually started picking at meat, meaning that it was the dominant individual.
Secretarybirds are fed with horse and chicken meat at the zoo, but they prey on snakes and other reptiles, small mammals and insects in the wild.
When they hunt, they deliver powerful kicks to the head of their prey with a force five times their own body weight and stomp on it to weaken the victim before eating it.
Secretarybirds are also known to form monogamous pairs that last for life. It is said that mated pairs remain together even after their juveniles leave the nest.
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