Editing Secretarybird (section)

== Taxonomy ==
{{Cladogram
|caption=Position of the secretarybird in the order [[Accipitriformes]]. The [[cladogram]] is based on a [[molecular phylogenetic]] analysis published in 2008.<ref name=hackett2008/><ref name=ioc/>
|align=right
|cladogram={{Clade| style=font-size:80%;line-height:75%;width:340px;
|1={{clade
   |1=[[Cathartidae]] – New World vultures (7 species)
   |2={{clade
      |1=[[Sagittariidae]] – '''Secretarybird'''
      |2={{clade
         |1=[[Accipitridae]] – Kites, hawks and eagles (256 species)
         |2=[[Pandionidae]] – Osprey
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}
}}
The Dutch naturalist [[Arnout Vosmaer]] described the secretarybird in 1769 on the basis of a live specimen that had been sent to Holland from the [[Cape of Good Hope]] two years earlier by an official of the [[Dutch East India Company]]. Vosmaer suggested that the species was called "sagittarius" by the Dutch settlers because its gait was thought to resemble an archer's. He also mentioned that it was known as the "secretarius" by farmers who had domesticated the bird to combat pests around their homesteads, and proposed that the word "secretarius" might be a corruption of "sagittarius".<ref>{{cite book |last=Vosmaer |first=Arnout |year=1769 |title=Description d'un oiseau de proie, nommé le sagittaire, tout-à-fait inconnu jusque'ici; apporté du Cap de Bonne Espérance |language=fr |location=Amsterdam |publisher=Pierre Meyer |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51569536 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |access-date=20 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208160958/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51569536 |url-status=live }} Contains eight pages and a plate.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Vosmaer |first=Arnout |year=1769 |title=Beschryving van eenen Afrikaanschen nog geheel onbekenden roof-vogel de Sagitarrius genaamd op de Kaap de Goede Hoop |language=nl |location=Amsterdam |publisher=Pierre Meyer |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27738512 |archive-date=1 November 2020 |access-date=20 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101034943/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27738512 |url-status=live }} Contains eight pages and a plate.</ref> Ian Glenn of the [[University of the Free State]] suggests that Vosmaer's "sagittarius" is a misheard or mis-transcribed form of "secretarius", rather than the other way around.<ref name=glenn18>{{ cite journal |last=Glenn |first=Ian |year=2018 |title=Shoot the messager? How the secretarybird ''Sagittarius serpentarius'' got its names mostly wrong |journal=Ostrich |volume=89 |issue=3 |pages=287–290 |doi=10.2989/00306525.2018.1499561 |bibcode=2018Ostri..89..287G |s2cid=91373517}}</ref>

[[File:IconesAnimalium00Mill page 73 - Falco serpentarius - Sagittarius serpentarius - Secretarybird.jpg|thumb|Plate from [[John Frederick Miller]]'s ''Icones animalium et plantarum'', published 1779, with the original [[binomial name]] ]]
In 1779 the English illustrator [[John Frederick Miller]] included a coloured plate of the secretarybird in his ''Icones animalium et plantarum'' and coined the [[binomial name]] ''Falco serpentarius''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=John Frederick |author-link=John Frederick Miller |year=1779 |title=Icones animalium et plantarum |volume=1 |at=Part 5, Plate 28 |language=la |location=London |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49649826 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |access-date=20 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116051258/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49649826 |url-status=live }}<!--This is a very rare book. See Walters M. (2009) The identity of the birds depicted in Shaw and Miller's Cimelia physica. Archives of Natural History. Volume 36, Page 316-326 DOI 10.3366/E0260954109001016 --></ref> As the oldest published specific name, ''serpentarius'' has [[Principle of Priority|priority]] over later scientific names.<ref name=glenn18/> The species was assigned to its own [[genus]] ''Sagittarius'' in 1783 by the French naturalist [[Johann Hermann]] in his ''Tabula affinitatum animalium''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hermann |first=Johann |author-link=Johann Hermann |year=1783 |title=Tabula affinitatum animalium |location=Argentorati [Strasbourg] |publisher=Printed by Joh. Georgii Treuttel |language=la |pages=136, 235 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39000807 |archive-date=27 November 2021 |access-date=20 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127054642/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39000807 |url-status=live }}</ref> The generic name ''Sagittarius'' is [[Latin]] for "archer", and the [[specific epithet]] ''serpentarius'' is from Latin ''serpens'' meaning "serpent" or "snake".<ref>{{cite book |last=Jobling |first=James A. |year=2010 |title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names |publisher=Christopher Helm |location=London |isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 |pages=345, 354 |url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n345/mode/1up}}</ref> A second edition of Miller's plates was published in 1796 as ''Cimelia physica'', with added text by English naturalist [[George Shaw (biologist)|George Shaw]], who named it ''Vultur serpentarius''.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The identity of the birds depicted in Shaw and Miller's ''Cimelia physica'' |last=Walters |first=Michael |journal=Archives of Natural History |year=2009 |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=316–326 |doi=10.3366/E0260954109001016}}</ref> The French naturalist [[Georges Cuvier]] erected the genus ''Serpentarius'' in 1798,<ref>{{cite book |language=fr |last1=Cuvier |first1=Georges |title=Tableau élémentaire de l'histoire naturelle des animaux |date=1798 |publisher=Baudouin |location=Paris |page=254 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11637336 |archive-date=8 May 2022 |access-date=9 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508225058/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11637336 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the German naturalist [[Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger]] erected the (now [[Synonym (taxonomy)|synonymous]])<ref name=sharpe1891/> genus ''Gypogeranus'' from the Ancient Greek words ''gyps'' "vulture" and ''geranos'' "crane" in 1811.<ref>{{cite book |language=la |last1=Illiger |first1=Johann Karl Wilhelm |title=Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium |date=1811 |publisher=C. Salfeld |location=Berlin |page=234 |url=https://archive.org/details/caroliilligerida00illi/page/234/mode/2up}}</ref>

In 1835 the Irish naturalist [[William Ogilby]] spoke at a meeting of the [[Zoological Society of London]] and proposed three species of secretarybird, distinguishing those from [[Senegambia]] as having broader crest feathers than those from South Africa, and reporting a distinct species from the Philippines based on the writings of [[Pierre Sonnerat]] in his ''Voyage à la Nouvelle-Guinée''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ogilby |first1=William |title=Genus ''Gypogeranus'' Ill. |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |date=1835 |volume=3 |pages=104–105 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30568613 |archive-date=8 May 2022 |access-date=12 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508225106/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30568613 |url-status=live }}</ref> There is no other evidence this taxon existed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hume |first1=Julian P. |title=Extinct Birds |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-4729-3746-9 |page=413 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40sxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA413}}</ref> Despite its large range, the secretarybird is considered [[monotypic]]: no [[subspecies]] are recognised.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web |editor1-last=Gill |editor1-first=Frank |editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) |editor2-last=Donsker |editor2-first=David |year=2019 |title=Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors |work=IOC World Bird List Version 9.2 |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/raptors/ |publisher=International Ornithologists' Union |access-date=21 November 2019 |archive-date=24 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424063017/https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/raptors/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The evolutionary relationship of the secretarybird to other raptors had long puzzled ornithologists. The species was usually placed in its own family [[Sagittariidae]] within the order [[Falconiformes]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Mayr |editor1-first=Ernst |editor1-link=Ernst Mayr |editor2-last=Cottrell |editor2-first=G. William |year=1979 |title=Check-list of Birds of the World |volume=1 |edition=2nd |publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology |place=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=390 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109030 |archive-date=27 November 2021 |access-date=25 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127062128/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109030 |url-status=live }}</ref> A large [[molecular phylogenetic]] study published in 2008 concluded that the secretarybird was [[Sister group|sister]] to a [[clade]] containing the ospreys in the family [[Pandionidae]] and the kites, hawks and eagles in the family [[Accipitridae]]. The same study found that the falcons in the order Falconiformes were only distantly related to the other diurnal birds of prey. The families [[Cathartidae]], Sagittariidae, Pandionidae and Accipitridae were therefore moved from Falconiformes to the resurrected [[Accipitriformes]].<ref name=hackett2008>{{ cite journal |last1=Hackett |first1=S. J. |last2=Kimball |first2=R. T. |last3=Reddy |first3=S. |last4=Bowie |first4=R. C. K. |last5=Braun |first5=E. L. |last6=Braun |first6=M. J. |last7=Chojnowski |first7=J. L. |last8=Cox |first8=W. A. |last9=Han |first9=K-L. | last10=Harshman | first10=J. |last11=Huddleston |first11=C. J. |last12=Marks |first12=B. D. |last13=Miglia |first13=K. J. |last14=Moore |first14=W. S. |last15=Sheldon |first15=F. H. |last16=Steadman |first16=D. W. |last17=Witt |first17=C. C. |last18=Yuri |first18=T. |year=2008 |title=A phylogenomic study of birds reveals their evolutionary history |journal=Science |volume=320 |issue=5884 |pages=1763–1767 |doi=10.1126/science.1157704 |pmid=18583609 |bibcode=2008Sci...320.1763H |s2cid=6472805}}</ref>{{efn|Some ornithologists place the family Cathartidae in a separate order [[Cathartiformes]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chesser |first1=R. Terry |last2=Burns |first2=Kevin J. |last3=Cicero |first3=Carla |last4=Dunn |first4=John L. |last5=Kratter |first5=Andrew W |last6=Lovette |first6=Irby J |last7=Rasmussen |first7=Pamela C. |last8=Remsen |first8=J. V. Jr |last9=Rising |first9=James D. | last10=Stotz | first10=Douglas F. |last11=Winker |first11=Kevin |year=2017 |title=Fifty-seventh supplement to the American Ornithological Society's ''Check-list of North American Birds'' |journal=The Auk |volume=133 |issue=3 |pages=544–560 |doi=10.1642/AUK-16-77.1 |doi-access=free}}</ref>}} A later molecular phylogenetic study published in 2015 confirmed these relationships.<ref>{{ cite journal |last1=Prum |first1=R. O. |author1-link=Richard Prum |last2=Berv |first2=J. S. |last3=Dornburg |first3=A. |last4=Field |first4=D. J. |last5=Townsend |first5=J. P. |last6=Lemmon |first6=E. M. |last7=Lemmon |first7=A. R. |year=2015 |title=A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing |journal=Nature |volume=526 |issue=7574 |pages=569–573 |doi=10.1038/nature15697 |pmid=26444237 |bibcode=2015Natur.526..569P |s2cid=205246158}}</ref>

The earliest [[fossil]]s associated with the family are two species from the genus ''[[Pelargopappus]]''. The two species, from the [[Oligocene]] and [[Miocene]] respectively, were discovered in France. The feet in these fossils are more like those of the Accipitridae; it is suggested that these characteristics are primitive features within the family. In spite of their age, the two species are not thought to be ancestral to the secretarybird.<ref name="HBW">{{cite book |first=Kevin |last=Caley |editor-first=Josep |editor-last=del Hoyo |editor2-first=Andrew |editor2-last=Elliott |editor3-first=David |editor3-last=Christie |contribution=Fossil birds |title=Handbook of the Birds of the World |volume=12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees |year=2007 |pages=11–56 |place=Barcelona |publisher=Lynx Edicions |isbn=978-84-96553-42-2 |title-link=Handbook of the Birds of the World |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0012unse/page/n14/mode/1up |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mourer-Chauviré |first1=Cécile |last2=Cheneval |first2=Jacques |date=1983 |title=''Les Sagittariidae fossiles (Aves, Accipitriformes) de l'Oligocène des phosphorites du Quercy et du Miocène inférieur de Saint-Gérand-le-Puy'' |language=fr |journal=Geobios |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=443–459 |doi=10.1016/S0016-6995(83)80104-1 |bibcode=1983Geobi..16..443M}}</ref> Though strongly convergent with the modern secretarybird, the extinct raptor ''[[Apatosagittarius]]'' is thought to be an accipitrid.<ref>{{ cite journal |last1=Feduccia |first1=A. |last2=Voorhies |first2=M. R. |year=1989 |title=Miocene hawk converges on Secretarybird |journal=Ibis |volume=131 |issue=3 |pages=349–354 |doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1989.tb02784.x}}</ref>

The [[International Ornithologists' Union]] has designated "secretarybird" the official common name for the species.<ref name=ioc/> In 1780 the French polymath [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon]] suggested that the name secretary/secrétaire had been chosen because of the long quill-like feathers at the top of the bird's neck,<ref>{{cite book |last=Buffon |first=Georges-Louis Leclerc de |author-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon |year=1780 |title=Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux |volume=14 |place=Paris |publisher=De l'Imprimerie Royale |pages=30–39 [35] |chapter=''Le Secrétaire ou Le Messager'' |language=fr |chapter-url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42337677 |archive-date=23 November 2019 |access-date=23 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123081641/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42337677 |url-status=live }}</ref> reminiscent of a quill pen behind the ear of an ancient scribe.<ref name="HBW"/> In 1977, C. Hilary Fry of [[Aberdeen University]] suggested that "secretary" is from the French ''secrétaire'', a corruption of the Arabic {{lang|ar|صقر الطير}} ''saqr et-tair'' meaning either "hawk of the semi-desert" or "hawk that flies".<ref>{{ cite journal |last=Fry |first=Charles Hilary |year=1977 |title=Etymology of "Secretary Bird" |journal=Ibis |volume=119 |issue=4 |page=550 |doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1977.tb02069.x}}</ref> Glenn has dismissed this etymology on the grounds that there is no evidence that the name came through French, instead supporting Buffon's etymology; namely, that the word comes from the Dutch ''secretaris'' "secretary", used by settlers in South Africa.<ref name=glenn18/>