Some birds have really silly names. Yeah, yeah, I know that the “white-browed tit-warbler” wasn’t named after what it sounds like it was, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s funny to modern ears.

The fact is that most birds gained their common names long before they meant what they do now. Sometimes, that results in something cheeky and funny, and sometimes it so perfectly matches the bird now that it’s inconceivable that the name is unrelated.

I mean, put this bird in a red dress and beehive and you’ve got Joan Holloway sashaying through the set of Mad Men like she owns the place.

Right or wrong, this is a bird that just exudes sexy receptionist realness.

However, the discovery of these birds and their naming predates the 20th century stereotype of the sexy secretary. Heck, it predates women working in secretary roles at all.

One commonly shared inspiration for the name is that the dark crown feathers resemble the quills 19th century secretaries would often have stuck in their hair. It’s like an old-timey equivalent to stashing a pen behind your ear.

Apparently, Dutch settlers in Africa called the bird “Sagittarius,” but the local farmers called them “Secretarius.” The latter stuck and eventually the name morphed to secretary.

Don’t let any cultural associations with the word cloud your judgment, though, because these birds are pretty badass.

Secretary birds prowl among the grasses and stomp their prey to death before feasting. Their most common food source is snakes and other small prey living in the savanna grasses, but people have witnessed the birds take down juvenile cheetahs and gazelles, too.

They are currently threatened by habitat loss, but conservation efforts are proceeding to slow the decline in population.