Paradise Bird

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Paradise Bird
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Fauna
Official Name Paradise Bird
Common Nicknames Cōzca, Westdwelling Longtail
Classification Bird
Habitat Various
Domesticated No
Current Status Uncommon

The Paradise Bird is a diverse species of avian made up of three subspecies which exist in a variety of different locations across the Alorian west. Interacting with a range of people, as a result, these three species are all markedly different from each other. The Guldar Paradise Bird is large and flightless, the Fire-tail Paradise Bird is isolated to a lone mountain grouping, while the once most populous species, the sea-bound Sunchaser Paradise Bird, has decreased in number in recent years. However, they have a common origin point as can be traced by their alert eyes, large dense tail fans, and fiery-hued feathers that unite them together.

History

The great variety of the Paradise Bird suggests an ancient history, likely dating back many millennia to sometime before the current shape of the world. On Guldar, the species had close associations with the Avarr, though to what extent is unclear. Some claim they rode the species as a Mount, others that they celebrated them as close brothers, and some believe they were hunted as weaker examples of the supremacy of the Avarr form. Among the Eronidas, the animal was always shunned and avoided, rarely hunted directly, but after the Avarr fell, the Guldar Paradise Bird was known to be pursued to acquire rich red plumage for ritual objects and dress. Meanwhile, in Altaleï and Westwynd, the Fire-tail Paradise Bird and the Sunchaser Paradise Bird were both encountered by the Allorn Empire. While the Fire-tail was local to only a few areas, and had a great deal of symbolism in concert with the regional species of Thunderbird, the Sunchaser species was less understood. Some believe that they initially led the Fin’ullen to Sileria, but overall they lacked much connection with regional people. Their numbers also dwindled in the final centuries of the Empire, as the arrival of the Eronidas from Guldar saw them take over territory held by the medium-sized avians. Back in Guldar, at the same time, the Maquixtl found the Guldar Paradise Bird to be a useful animal to extract Genos from. This has helped it thrive while its cousins in the Sunchaser and Fire-tail have both dropped in numbers. This state of affairs remains the case today.

Physical Appearance

Paradise Birds have considerable variation in their appearance, but at the same time, do have clear traits linking them to each other. They are avians of varying sizes between their kinds. The Guldar species is the largest, standing at seven feet tall distinctly due to their long necks. The Sunchaser and Fire-tail have similar sizes to each other, standing at about four and a half to five and a half feet long. Their wingspans are also similar, at around twelve feet, while Guldar Paradise Birds have short wings, which are about three feet in length. Their faces are also considerably different but are noted for their sharp eyes which appear in hues of red, orange, or yellow, and plume of cresting feathers. Their feet are also all the same color: a bright yellow with black talons, and their bodies end in the same notable structure: a thick-plumage tail which should theoretically make it hard for them to fly. This is true for the Guldar Paradise Bird, as their tail is thickest of the species, and the feathers have grown heavy, and lack the airy weight of their aerial cousins. The Sunchaser has perhaps the lightest tailfeathers, while the Fire-tail Paradise Bird sits between both extremes and possesses all colorations possible among the species. These colorations are hues of red, yellow, and orange, with some very exotic members of all three species being “burnt” with brown tips to their wing feathers, or “sunlit,” having brilliant yellow plumage all over their bodies.

Diversity

As mentioned, the Paradise Bird is a diverse species of bird with three groups all related to each other yet also different. The species lacks sexual dimorphism, however, and tends to slightly favor males in population ratios.

  • Fire-tail Paradise Bird: The least numerous in population, and also confined to a singular region in Altaleï, the Fire-tail Paradise Bird is well known across Aloria. Commonly seen as the origin of the phoenix myth among the Ailor, this bird has long been observed by the Elves in concert with the region’s Thunderbird population.
  • Sunchaser Paradise Bird: The Sunchaser is a shore-focused, migratory species, and flies west once a year on the day of the yearly eclipse. Known for yellow and orange plumage rather than a mix of all three hues, their numbers have been dropping as a result of the Dread Empire’s emergence, and the devastation they have brought on northern Sileria. The arrival of the Eronidas also reduced the populations found in Altaleï.
  • Guldar Paradise Bird: The largest members of the species, Guldar Paradise Birds are also flightless, but instead leap, flutter, and stalk through the dense jungles of Guldar. Their beaks are large, and their necks are long, suiting their style of hunting. They are well respected by the Maquixtl, who largely leave them alone, though the eggs and meat are prized for special regional meals.

Life Span and Development

Paradise Birds are all uniformly born in pale yellow eggs with orange and black speckles around their middle section. While the other two subspecies have fairly small eggs at about an inch or two long, Guldar Paradise Birds are born in six-inch long eggs. All three subspecies emerged as hatchlings covered in a pale orange down, and are flightless at this early. Stage. Again, while the two smaller species gradually develop their flight feathers, and lose their down before a first flight after around three months, the Guldar species develops differently. By the age of six, they fully lose their down and gain their adult feathers, but they do not fly. Their development is notably slower than their smaller cousins, as they take twice as long to mature. Within another three months, the two smaller species are considered young adults, but it takes the Guldar Paradise Bird six months to reach an adolescent status and size. After these nine months, another nine pass until they reach the point of young adulthood, and then fully separate from their parents. Despite these development variances, all Paradise Birds can live up to fifty years.

Mental Overview

Each of the Paradise Birds has a very different mental state that befits their different strains of development. Any examination should begin with the Fire-tail Paradise Bird, the best-studied and most widely known species. These avians live in the high mountains of southern Altaleï and can get along with other bird species quite well. The Western Thunderbird is a frequent companion in their soars through the sky, and gleaming reds and blues crossing over is a common motif in regional art and iconography. These Paradise Birds are also the least focused on meat, sustaining themselves largely on insects and at most, small mammals, in addition to a diet mostly taken from nuts and berries of the mountain slopes and peaks. The Elven cities across the region also now provide both species of gleaming, starkly-colored birds with sources of food, and have made them more used to the presence of the sentient Races. They are known to calmly fly next to Elven Airships or soaring Mages as a result. However, they are fiercely protective of their nests and young, known to divebomb those who get too close to either the nests or newly flying hatchlings.

The Sunchaser Paradise Bird, meanwhile, is a very different species. Reduced in number in recent centuries to the point their numbers are reaching the low numbers of the Fire-tail variety, Sunchasers thrive on the coastline, hunting mostly crustaceans and smaller fish or sea snails. Their beaks are built for this purpose, and they are more frequent flappers while Fire-tails are gliders. Sunchaser Birds are also less attached to their offspring, known to abandon their nests quickly and form new ones rapidly. They dislike contact with Aloria’s different groups, and avoid them, rather than attacking them. They are also guided by one of the strange phenomena witnessed in an animal species. On the day of the solar eclipse, which occurs once every year in Aloria on January 5th, the birds will take flight once the event has finished, and fly with very few stops over to Westafar from Altaleï and Sileria. This great migration west has given them their name, and they gradually return to their points of origin over the year.

The Guldar Paradise Bird, meanwhile, is a predator bird. While not an apex form of life, as the jungles of Guldar hold many beasts, their large, thick beaks, large clawed feet, and agility when rushing across the forest floor and through tree branches make them excellent hunters. They pursue all sorts of catches, including fish in rivers or bodies of water. They do not hunt the Maquixtl, but are not very friendly to them, and will often chase them off, out of territory the large bird considers their own. Despite this, they are perhaps the most internally social of the Paradise Birds, as while territorial, their family units will gather for group preening, and take care of one another. They also hunt as a family group and defend each other as a family group.

Territory and Groupings

Paradise Birds have a variety of grouping types and very different dwelling places. Fire-tail Paradise Birds live in the mountains of southern Altaleï and remain there. They live in small clusters of five to six families, each with their own nest, along or around rock crags and small caves. These birds do flock together, but only briefly in the morning when most Fire-tail Paradise Birds launch themselves into flight. Sunchaser Paradise Birds, meanwhile, are considerably more solitary. While they live in close confines with other members of their species, they see little obligation to others around them who are not their mate or their hatchlings. Their coastal nests are also easily abandoned, but also quickly rebuilt. The only time that Sunchasers group together is for their great western migration, sometimes called a “Feather-fire Wall” given how they so uniformly move in large arcs over the water. Guldar Paradise Birds meanwhile, are territorial to a region of several miles square, and live in a close family unit called a run. Young adult members of this species eventually leave their family territory to go form a new one with a partner, but some partners also return to the family of the male partner to live among them.

Trivia

  • Guldar Paradise Bird feathers are one of the few trade goods sought by the Eronidas from their old homeland, as their brilliant plumage still lends itself well to cultural festivals.
  • Sunchaser Paradise Birds are considered a delicacy in Kathar society, who eat the birds to spite the fire-loving Suvial.
  • Fire-tail Paradise Birds, while not domesticated, sometimes make use of perches in the Elven cities around their living space, and allow Elves to pet or feed them.

Accreditation
Writers HydraLana
Processors FireFan96, MantaRey
Last Editor HydraLana on 12/9/2023.

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