#they’re passerines

[perriwinklesblog]

Me to all my friends: do you think Brennan Lee Mulligan would like my bird?

[soapcan18]

Passerine is religious trauma the song bro ITS SO POWERFUL I LOVE IT!! I’ve already posted my long ass rant about it but I just love it so much listen to it rn

[apollos-boyfriend]

i’m sorry but someone commented on my post that they’re put off from the oh hellos because they’re a “christian band” which is why they prefer the four winds series because they’re “mostly greek mythology themed” babe are we listening to the same EPs….. the ones centered around and sprouting from deconstructing modern christianity and struggling with your faith….. just because they’re named after the greek gods does NOT make them any less christian in their imagery and themes 😭

[macabrity]

how to catch a starling. how to catch a brace of starlings.

[crevicedwelling]

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PARASITE?

hmm. that’s really hard & I could probably provide more interesting answers for each type of parasitism

aside from silly parasitoid life cycles like trigonalid wasps, I really like greater honeyguides as brood parasites.

they are a funky passerine-looking woodpecker relative, and adults have developed a mutualism with humans in which the bird leads humans to beehives, and when the humans take the honey and leave the nest broken the honeyguide eats the larvae, pupae, and bizarrely the wax. they’d be a great bird for the wax-digesting alone, but…

they start out as really hardcore brood parasites. they’re plump little goblins with hooked bills that go around stabbing and biting to death any of its adoptive siblings (all while completely blind), leaving the host family with just the honeyguide to raise. their Biting The World behavior is so strong they’ll clamp onto human hands, as shown.

[crow-aeris]

So i’ve been thinking (shocking, really) about the world building for my reverse robins wingfic.

ike, sure, it’s a little fic and ppl prolly won’t notice, but i just cant help but speculate.

in this au, everyone is born with wings unless afflicted with a certain illness, disease, or genetic defect that leaves you with no avian traits (which is the excuse the kents use).

but how would having wings influence the infrastructure? well, i’m glad you asked! cities are more compact because there isn’t really as big a need for transportation unless you’re an aves that’s just not built for long-distance travels like various passeriformes birds.

planes still exist, but they’re utilized by the avians who aren’t able to fly long distances. avians who have wings like albatrosses or terns or other soaring birds would probably require licenses to do their annual migrations and travels- same applies to regualr migritory species like ducks and geese- where the instinct remains despite not needing to migrate.

of course, with the constant migration through countries, i think there would be more mixing of races and ethnicities especially within the migratory bird communities, so there would probably be less overall hostilities.

now, there will still be discriminatory and hateful ideals, and some are shown in my fics. For example, Gotham’s elites are mostly made up of raptors and birds of prey like eagles, kites, kestrels, hawks, falcons, ospreys, owls, etc- birds who actively hunt down mammalian or lizards for prey (in the real world i mean), that is because of displays of powers. Scavengers like condors, vultures, buzzards, are regarded lower on the social ladder but not as low as perching birds and song birds simply because of their ability to have sustained flight.

like i mentioned briefly, songbirds and perching birds (passerines) are regarded lowly in general due to their “weak demeanor” and overall flashiness, which gives them the reputation of being only suitable to work in brothels and such regardless of gender (but especially dudes where the aves species exhibits sexual dimorphism, eg. cardinals, peacocks, golden pheasants, etc.)

there are definitely some exceptions, being corvids. some cultures have corvids as villans, whereas others may portray corvids as intelligent and charming.

now, we arrive to genetics. im still not 100% sure how i want the phenotype of an avian to be passed down. so far, it’s mainly just sons are the same aves as their fathers (like thomas wayne, bruce, and damian are all harpy eagles, but martha wayne was a kingfisher and talia is an imperial eagle), but im not sure abt daughters. genetics is messy, but i think i’ve managed to sertle on a 50/50 chance of being born either the same aves as their mother, or their paternal grandmother. like if damian had been born with xx instead of xy chromosomes, then he’d either have been an imperial eagle like talia, or a kingfisher like martha wayne. intersex people exist too, and i think their wings would be a blend between both their mother and father’s.

now for the the supers and the other metas:

as mentioned previously, the kents claim that their adopted son had a genetic disorder that basically prevented him from growing wings (or just left him in a state similar to humans before they were all “cursed” by a diety to have wings, or whatever. in the dcu, that probably woulnd’t even be too far fetched), so clark lacked a major social component to his childhood. without wings and a tail, others would have a harder time reading his emotions, seeing as these appendages are crucial in nonverbal communication between avians, and that gives clark a leg up in reading other people, but having them not understanding what he’s thinking.

now with jon and kon, they have two VERY different situations. for jon, since his paternal side is wings-free, i just gave him lois’s ave- western kingbird- instead of making him no-winged. kon, on the other hand was a test-tube baby, so it was a toss-up on whether he’d get lex luthor’s purple martin wings, or clark’s no-wings since they’re both guys. I think kon would’ve enjoyed wings, so i gave him the purple martin wings. Plus, they’re pretty much invulnerable, and their wings are no different.

diana and the other ppl from themyscira wouldn’t have wings since they aren’t human, and same applies to the other jl members who aren’t humans.

on a wholly separate note: the lazarus pits. here, not only does it give you white streaks in your hair, it’ll bleach out your feathers. so liek if a peacock was thrown into the pit, not only would they die and come back manic, their feathers would make them look like piebald, or have different markings or white ticking.

anyways, that’s the end of my long post, and i hope yall enjoyed listening to me speculate and talk about birds and my silly little guys!!

[lunarrosette]

Hey guys I really like bird symbolism

So larks typically symbol daybreak or a new day in traditional mythology and religions in a way summoning the doodler into the world cause a new daybreak and new day it’s also described that larks, as passerine, are the “most evolved of all birds” skylark (which is typically the bird described when ppl just say lark) was a verb used by sailors meaning “play tricks or practical jokes; indulge in horseplay” much like lark oak Garcia as a child

Sparrows are very social birds occurring in flocks even during non breeding season (relying and being dependently close…) they are also one of the few passerine birds that would dust bathe sparrows were associated with love and lust in older religions and mythologies (they were closely related to Aphrodite) pet sparrows also must be raise by hand and are very hard to raise and maintain as pets much like a certain oak-Garcia as a child

I highly doubt this name symbolism was intentional in naming the twins however comma I like looking at it bc I really like bird symbolism and how different birds histories and behaviors can signify things about a piece of work if they’re included

[birrdies]

I actually really want to hear about it so I’m here to ask about Grian and shrikes…

(Also fun fact there’s a type of shrike in Australia we call a butcherbird because they’re known for taking their prey and, uh, making use of rose thorns)

rubs hands together ohh boy. I am So glad you asked (:

we actually also call them butcherbirds!! and this is exactly what makes me so insane about it when applying it to grian, ESPECIALLY third life grian. the shrike is a passerine (song-bird), but deceptively so. it’s ferocious, it spikes their prey on thorns. something about it being a songbird and a bird of prey at the same time are what gets me. im gonna bullet point some stuff out bc i can’t find a way to organize this coherently

grian, on the surface, is not necessarily formidable. he’s a bit goofy, plays pranks, doesn’t exactly know what he’s getting into at the start of 3L. he’s the songbird

plus they have a shrill cry which… lets be honest… that’s So grian, he’s very shrill

but we all know how 3L ends. grian kills scar. and while scar let him win, I don’t think grian ever fully forgives either of them for it. his hand was forced, but he also killed the one person in the series he trusted and cares for. the shrike.

HOWEVER. if you consider it in a more metaphorical sense, I like to apply the lyrics of hozier’s song “shrike” to 3L desert duo. ‘remember me, love, when i’m reborn as the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn”. 3L desert duo are the villains from so many perspectives. scar is just as willing to kill and cause mayhem as grian— if not more so. but grian is his lackey. scar is the thorn, grian is the shrike. together they are deadly

shrikes NEED the thorns. shrikes don’t have the talons of a bird of prey, they need a tool to help them kill and hunt. grian NEEDS scar. he doesn’t have the bloodlust at first, but as the series goes on grian is more and more willing to attack, trap, kill, and since he’s green most of the time he NEEDS scar to do it for him.

and maybe that’s why grian always ends up in scar’s orbit, one way or another, in these series.

bonus… thinking about… cactus thorns…

they’re also very territorial which I think fits very nicely with grian. especially in 3L.

tldr: if you haven’t cried thinking about desert duo while listening to ‘shrike’ by hozier I highly highly suggest it

[justmossyall]

sunny :D

I'm doing a challenge where I listen to only Christian music for 30 days

any suggestions

(please help I'm struggling already on day 1 lmaooo)

THAT’S AMAZING!!!!!! honestly i might join you on that! want to hold each other accountable? :)

and OMG THIS IS IS MY FAVORITE QUESTION I LOVE RECOMMENDING CHRISTIAN MUSIC

well first off here is my worship playlist, and rn im making a bible reading playlist that i can send to you later :)

i would recommend the bands Strings and Heart & RIDERS. two of my FAVORITE alternative christian artists. i also love worshipping to The Oh Hellos — they’re not technically a christian band, but their songs have soooo many christian themes and biblical references that i have to include some of them on my playlists :) as for specific songs, here are some of my faves!!

i tried to put a good mix of styles in here :) feel free to check out my playlist for more!!! i find a lot of christian music soooooo boring and annoying, so i’m really proud of my playlist :)

good on you for doing that challenge! i hope you don’t mind me joining you :D tysm for the ask!!!! <3

[nomsfaultau]

SCP Sleepy Bois Inc as animals

(specifically animals they aren’t usually coded as) (because otherwise what’s the point)

Philza—African Jacana

He’s just a dad carrying around his chicks. What more do you want from him? Male African Jacana are known for raising hatchlings on their own. Gives people nightmares when they’re just trying to protect their chicks. They also use their long toes to walk on water (really on floating vegetation but shh) and are referred to as Jesus birds. Other than the fact Philza is a god, he occasionally forgets to be affected by gravity since pretending to be a person is pretty hard. (I’m ignoring the few decades Philza accidentally spent as a crow so hard rn.)

Tommy—Clownfish

This is 100% serious actually. Specifically a red bullet hole clownfish, to mimic Red’s splatters. Tommy’s very much a small fish in a big pond. Clownfish purposefully coat themselves in sea anemone toxin that is harmless to them but really bad for anyone else, much like Red. If we make The Blood God an anemone in this analogy, Tommy is always running to him for safety, luring in doomed predators that that are slaughtered in a symbiotic relationship between the two. Tommy is also the dominant male of the group, and should the female die he’ll become trans— wait. Maybe not that last fun fact, since Tommy is the most reliably cishet in Fault. Also yes fine he’s a silly goofy guy who acts flashy for attention.

Tubbo—Honey Guide

What animal could better represent the hive save for a bird that lures people to bee hives? Since, again, this challenge is about avoiding the obvious answer. Much like Tubbo, these little guys have a pretty positive mutualistic relationship with humans. Anyway, this friendly and helpful passerine is also a brood parasite! They lay eggs in the nests of others and then murder the other chicks so that the honey guide is raised by unsuspecting parent birds. This fits well with Tubbos’ design as a changeling that’s meant to mimic humans in order to replace individuals (by adding them to the hive mind). Worked decently since Tubbo was raised by humans (ignoring how badly it went with the first nest they infiltrated).

Wilbur—Polyphemus Moth

Named of course after the famous cyclops, I thought the name and appearance were a fantastic reference to the void embedded in half of Wilbur’s face. Beyond that, moths are very night coded, much like Wilbur, though are uncontrollably attracted to the light (Philza). Notably, a Polyphemus moth eats 86,000 times their body weight in the 56 days that it lives, which plays well to Wilbur being a Devourer of All and a man who’s extremely aware he isn’t going to have a long life span. Plus their spooky design fits in with how much of a flashy edgelord Wilbur is. Only problem is they spend almost half their existence in their silk cocoon and Wilbur is a chronic insomniac who could NEVER.

The Blade—Hippopotamus

Both are insanely aggressive and deadly, and are the top of the food chain (once adults). Plus the semi aquatic nature of the hippopotamus plays well into the (arguably literal) sea of voices from which The Blade has to fight his way out of or else succumb to the fathoms. Just like how hippos can’t actually swim? Both faster than anyone would prefer them to be able to move. uh. About the same size. uhhh. They both can’t sweat and so enjoy a good mud bath..? could be unethically hunted for ivory…….? Bro he’s so pig idk

[dougdimmadodo]

Boat-Tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major)

Family: American Blackbird Family (Icteridae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Native to the southeastern USA, the Boat-Tailed Grackle shares much of its range with the closely related Common Grackle, but can be distinguished from its relative thanks to its larger size (Growing to be around 40cm/15.7 inches long compared to the around 32cm/12.6 inch long Common Grackle) and its considerably longer, broader tail, which is present in both sexes but more prominent in males. Found largely in coastal habitats (although they may also be found near large inland bodies of water or in human settlements where they feed on abandoned food scraps), members of this species roost in large, loosely organised flocks that may contain hundreds of individuals, and which scatter during the day to feed on seeds, fruits, insects, eggs and small vertebrates such as frogs, fishes and occasionally smaller birds before gathering back together at dusk. Boat-Tailed Grackles mate in the early spring (with a male establishing a strictly-guarded territory and producing a high-pitched mating call to invite a large number of females into it) and nest during the late spring and early summer (with several females constructing small, cup-shaped nests among dense elevated vegetation within close proximity to one another to increase the likelihood of potential predators and egg thieves being spotted, and 3-5 pale, speckled and striped eggs being laid in each nest.) Females of this species have pale brown bodies and dark brown wings, while males (such as the individual pictured above) are nearly twice the size of females and possess iridescent black feathers that reflect light in such a way that they may appear purple, blue or green if seen under bright sunlight. As is true of many grackles the males of this species are frequently mistaken for crows (with the word grackle being derived from the Latin graculus, meaning “jackdaw”, in reference to the two small species of Eurasian crows known collectively as jackdaws), but despite their superficial similarities grackles and crows are not closely related (with grackles and their fellow American Blackbirds being more closely related to the American Sparrows of the family Passerellidae.)

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Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/9601-Quiscalus-major

(Side note: Some of the sources I’ve read about grackles seem to suggest that they’re among the most common passerine birds in North America, but I’m curios as to how true that is. I don’t suppose anyone who sees this post and lives in/has been to America can confirm or deny this?)

[fanby-fckry]

If Alastor had bird traits, what would bird species would they be?

Ooh, this is a good question. Very much in the spirit of random anons. (This is a compliment, I promise.)

My first thought was that it’d have to be something intelligent, something capable of mimicking human speech. Alastor’s voice is very important to him, so I think if he had traits from an animal in a class where some are extremely good at mimicking human speech and some aren’t, he’d be one of the talking ones.

That narrows it down to mostly parrots and corvids, but I’m willing to throw in Australian Magpies (not corvids, despite the name) because they’re such menaces, and I think swooping season is a fun parallel to the fanon idea of Alastor going through rut.

I like the idea that rut isn’t necessarily sexual for Alastor, that he just gets extra combattive and irritable. It’d be similar for swooping. He wouldn’t be protecting offspring or a mate, he’d just get extra territorial about his radio tower for no apparent reason, snatching up any demons who get too close.

Now, back to corvids and parrots.

For parrots, I narrowed it down to two species based on intelligence and speech, as well as the additional criteria of having some red on them, somewhere. This leaves us with African Grey Parrots (red tail feathers) and Scarlet Macaws (mostly red).

But deer aren’t exactly red, so I don’t think that should exclude our next contestants, the American Crow, the Fish Crow and the Chihuahuan Raven.

One of my favorite things about Alastor being a deer is that the particular species I believe him to be (a White Tailed Deer) is native to Louisiana. Now, you’re not exactly going to find Australian Magpies, African Greys, or Scarlet Macaws flying around in Louisiana unless somebody’s pet got loose.

Meanwhile, American Crows, Fish Crows (the two species of crows most often observed mimicking human speech) and Chihuahuan Ravens are all birds that Alastor would’ve been fairly likely to encounter during his lifetime.

And then, after all that research, I remembered the existence of the shrike…

The Loggerhead Shrike fits none of my original criteria, but is native to Louisiana and is famous for hunting prey that is sometimes as large or larger than they are and impaling them on sticks.

You see this bird?

This bird is a serial killer.

Ok, so that’s anthropomorphizing a bird that’s really just hunting to eat, like most carnivores do, but like. If you know this bird, you know I’m not wrong.

They’re nicknamed the butcherbird, and they’ve fucking earned it.

Bonus points for two of their common prey items being spiders and snakes, for all your RadioDust, RadioApple, and RadioSnake needs, platonic or otherwise.

I have some choice sections from their wikipedia page that I’d like to include, but I’m putting them below the cut in case anyone’s squeamish about details of animal death in a predator-prey context.

Loggerhead shrikes have been repeatedly observed killing prey larger than themselves by spearing the neck or head of the animal and twisting. The speed at which this occurs causes a whiplash injury to the animal. The neck strength of the shrikes compensates, making their talon weakness inconsequential.

Although loggerhead shrikes are passerines, they are a predatory species that hunt during the day. They primarily eat insects, but also consume arachnids, reptiles, amphibians, rodents, bats and small birds. They have even eaten venomous snakes such as the water adder. The size of prey ranges from 0.001 g (3.5×10−5 oz) insects to 25 g (0.88 oz) mice or reptiles.

They are not true birds of prey, as they lack the large, strong talons used to catch and kill prey. Instead, they are sit-and-wait hunters that stalk prey by hawking and diving from elevated perches.

Due to the shrike's small size in proportion to the size of its prey, it must rely on specialized adaptations to facilitate its hunting. The powerful, hooked beak of the loggerhead shrike allows it to sever the neck of a small vertebrate. Larger prey are subjected to impaling, in which they are pushed down into a sharp projection, such as a thorn or barbed wire. The bird can then tear off flesh by using the projection as an anchor. The shrike may also use the thorn to fasten and store its food to return to at a later time.

The motion of impalement appears to be instinctive, as parent shrikes do not demonstrate the behavior to their nestlings.

Yeah, I think we have a winner here, folks.

[activatebutterflyshield]

Songs that make me really really really want to learn animation so I can make epic sequences with them as the soundtrack

- Notos by the Oh Hellos, itd make a great phoenix-rising, defeated-character-realizing-their-power-and-absolutely-destroying-someone-who-did-them-real-trauma thing. Also the metaphors and imagery. “Every inhale I take, swallow the ocean whole and I am one / With the hurricane, tall as the tide that laps with a rabid tongue”??? “With every exhale I break you down with a fury, I lay the hills undone / Like a dog gone untamed, bellowing out a river from my lungs”??????

- Boreas by the Oh Hellos, the perfect sort of ‘Im completely defeated but by god I’m still going to do something to help’

- Okay I should just include all of the Four Winds EPs in here. Get over here, Eurus and Zephyrus. Passerine and Rio Grande specifically.

- The Horror and the Wild by the Amazing Devil, see this one fandom post I made that was basically a desperate attempt to visualize an animatic I could never make

- Chords by the Amazing Devil, entirely different vibes but bloody hell it lights a fire in my heart every time I hear it. Just. “We were the winter nights / So you could be the morning snow / Your life begins by leaving / And our love is shown / In the letting go”????????

- Rockslide by the Crane Wives. Im writing a whole thing about that album, Coyote Stories’, relationship with climate change and the generally horrible state of the world and this song is the reason. “Oh I pray today my soul to keep / But we best get a move on or the devil we will meet”?? I mean. Mates. It hits hard.

- Sleeping Giants by the Crane Wives. Same album as Rockslide and just as strong if not more so. It would make for a great call-to-war or prelude-to-a-big-ol-battle.

- Rule #3 Paperwork by Fish in a Birdcage. By goodness is Paperwork underrated (though methinks Rule #2 Moonlight is even more underrated but thats just a good song) and I love it to death. Just a great song for an easygoing time. Or, alternatively, a great song for a subtle call to action.

- Rule #33 Pyre by Fish in a Birdcage. Its just great. A final, fond farewell from a beloved parent or mentor or loved one or other dear person telling you that you’ll be fine after they’re gone. Also the accordion is really neat in this one. “Trust yourself and live it your way”. It just is great.

- WOLVES OF THE REVOLUTION. ARCADIAN WILD. This gave so much inspiration for writing a revolution and the people involved in it. Its perfect for that arc. It doesnt bloody matter if said revolution is in a war tragedy of a fanfic.

Theres more but I dont have much to say about them, so just know that Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier (Corb Lund), Solar Waltz (Cosmo Sheldrake), Mvmt II Begin and Never Cease (The Oh Hellos (really bloody Christian but its so good just music wise)(Also Christmas as hell)), The Day Goes On (Bill Wurtz), and my very dear Discord’s Smallest Violin (The AJR Discord) are also very dear to my heart and would probably become something if I had enough commitment and free time and all those other extremely volatile factors to actually learn how to animate. I will, someday. But that day is not today.

Also I swear to you @writer-of-random-things I am writing the climate-change-Coyote-Stories thing. It exists. Or, about half of it exists. I got to The Hand That Feeds and its. Uh. A lot.

[rwby-necromancer-au]

OK BECAUSE AT LEAST ONE PERSON SHOWED INTEREST

I’ve been thinking about songbirds a LOT lately

I have such a vivid image in my mind of how these guys would look and how it’d look to be on one of these stolen ships taking people out of Atlas to save them. How they’d care for these people and try to keep them safe.

I’ve also toyed with the idea of giving them a uniform of some kind. Instead of them looking like ordinary people.

I think them being dressed in all black would be a cool counterpart to Atlas’s Pursuers wearing only white.

In this hypothetical uniform, they’d wear masks. (specifically plague doctor masks bc I’m predictable and they offer a lot of versatility in design considering they’re called songBIRDS)

And also I’ve always imagined them with black captain hats or black chauffeur hats:

LOTS of layers, like a LOT.

They go everywhere, so they need to be prepared for any kind of weather. The hottest of the hot and the coldest of the cold.

I figure these guys may also just use dark colors, not necessarily black

Like brown, dark green, or whatever matches their mask, which will entirely depend on what role they have on the ship. Role = what kind of bird you are.

Here are the roles and their associated birds:

- Captains are Crows or Ravens

- Second in Commands would be Passerines

- Healers/Medics are Hummingbirds or Kinglets

- General songbirds without a specific role are Blackbirds

- Caretaker songbirds (ones that care for orphaned children or the elderly) are Cardinals

- Psychiatric Songbirds are Starlings

- Chef/Cafeteria Songbirds are Swallows (see what I did there? Hehe)

I imagine they wear trench coats, which I think would be a nice callback to where Oz got the idea for his own trench coat and why he likes them so much.

Another fun callback is how Qrow has his own plague doctor/songbird mask.

And how Glynda wears similar boots to the songbirds.

They probably wear cargo pants with lots of pockets, and bodysuits that go all the way up over the head (apart from the face), these can be swapped out for short sleeve version too. Work gloves and steel toed work boots are a must, so are lots of bags and holsters. I imagine they also have a harness that has some bags on it too.

All hidden beneath a heavy trench coat, that also has pockets.

I imagine these holsters and pockets are used to hold guns, flash bangs, other forms of weapon that can temporarily disable an enemy, knives, etc.

And most of these holsters and bags have a cover to go over them, to keep the things inside in place.

Can’t have anything too restricting, they need to be able to jump, run, roll, etc.

I imagine that they whistle, sing, hum, and that every song means something different.

Rarely do they ever actually speak to each other when they’re working, only use non verbal or musical communication. The only time you’ll see them converse is when they’re on the ship itself and not in danger.

They have to give up their entire identities to do this job, only being referred to by “Songbird” or their title of songbird (I.e “Blackbird” or otherwise)

They are covered head to toe. No skin is allowed to show really.

Those with long hair must either tie their hair up in a way that their hat and bodysuit will cover it, or cut it (Most usually cut their hair).

All songbirds must know how to speak in sign language.

All the boats that are used to take people out of Atlas/Mistral must be stolen from Atlas/Mistral or made to look identical to their ships. That way they can avoid detection

But yeah, those are some of my thoughts about them!!!

I really love thinking about these guys!

[savimatteo2810]

Some Princes!AU doodles/concept

Most of these were done before I finalised the plot, originally Warriors was meant to inherit the throne a lot younger than he did but I decided to age him up for. Reasons. You’ll find them out soon enough.

This au has taken root in my brain

(And don’t worry, the other boys show up too ;D they’re all going to be a part of this, it may just take a while to get them all introduced! Sadly, they will not play as big of a role as Warriors, Wind and Time do, but they will be there at least a little.)

I don’t know how to draw babies.

The Warriors in the bottom left was actually inspired by a Passerine animatic. They are so Passerine coded and I’m never beating the Tommyinnit allegations.

I like to imagine the doodle on the right is at a party. Warriors looked bored so Wind decided to start copying every little movement to try and make him laugh. I love them so much.

[outofangband]

Birds of Nan Elmoth

Other bird and ecology posts in the Beleriand tag!

Written for @melestasflight

Nan Elmoth or the Valley of Stars was a deep forest East of Doriath and on the Eastern banks of the river Celon, a tributary to Aros which was itself a tributary to Sirion.

We can only speculate about the species of trees that grew here with the primary descriptor being that they block the sun. The climate and habitat is a deep, mixed deciduous forest with high moisture.

Note: I do have to give some license because of the enchantments, which means that the inspiration will take from real places, will not match exactly to the flora and fauna not that I’ve described here, but I’ve done my best, and I’ve done my best to include species that exist in deep forests, and not in open spaces, or at the very least live part time or migratory species in deeper forests.

I usually include world building notes on these post, so they’re not just me listing species but because there’s not a settlement or society here I wasn’t really sure what to do so I included world building notes for the Sindar more generally as well as nearby cultures, including Nandor and Avarin elves, I think all three have spent intermittent time in Nan Elmoth

I do not think that Nan Elmoth has a large amount of fauna because of its enchantments however there are species that have adapted to living there and in the surrounding regions. Most of these species are passerines who do not flock in large numbers. There are also species that do not exist in this world

Deep in the woods: chaffinch, hawfinch, pine grosbeak , common bullfinch, tawny owl, wood grouse, song thrush, common nightingale, hermit thrush

On the outskirts: northern parula, chestnut bunting, brambling, lesser redpoll, common nightingale, common wren

By the pool and in wetlands: rustic bunting, purple heron (migratory)

By the river banks: black faced bunting, common rosefinch, white throated dipper, common crane

Migratory: little bunting, northern wryneck, Bohemian waxwing (breeds in conifers), scaly thrush

World building notes:

-Nightingales, usually species of forest edges and clearings live in Nan Elmoth and have since Melian herself was there. Their song is lower than their kin in other regions and many feel it is more eerie, almost mournful.

-Birds that feed on yew berries and other species poisonous to elves and men are considered symbols of endurance and faith in some Sindar culture.

-The whistling cry of waxwings appears in Avarin music, often emulated through flutes carved from wood and reed.

-Rusting buntings are symbols of maternity and childbearing in some Avari and Sindar cultures

-It is told among the Avari of this region that thrushes and other songbirds guided them to find food in the faint dawn of their awakening.