#menacing macaw

[hunterinkoseh]

I think I'm the only person in the world who downloaded the 'menacing macaw' costume for the Cohoot. You could hear it screeching from across the village. 😂 Here's a menacing macaw glaive.

[birdyverdie]

if we asked about leper, we can't leave his royal jester behind! do you have any feeling about what bird would Sarmenti be? ^^

Hi hi Coffee!! It's bird time! :> Sarmenti is fairly straight forward, since he's already a bit of a songbird! And I was going to call him a songbird too, until I took a bit more of his menace side in mind. Sarmenti's a wildcard, and an incredibly flexible character, with two main play-styles related to him: the back support, or a front glass canon. His Solo skill paired with his Finale makes him a huge damage-dealer, and his Battle Ballad with Inspiring Tune makes his teammates so much more efficient. He has the highest dodge in the game, but pretty low HP, but thankfully, some of his trinkets and move-set allows him to dance in the face of death like a true jester! In terms of his personality, he's revels in mockery and sarcasm, his jokes a definite hit-or-miss, and he's honestly a bit of a prick. (I love him though!) He's an avid risk-taker and fairly morbid, laughing at everyone's impending mortality at one moment, and in the next turns around and plays a silly little tune to inspire everyone. A definite menace. So I think he would pair well as a Scarlet Macaw!

A part of the True Parrot species, Scarlet Macaws are incredibly playful and sassy parrots, known as being temperamental and fairly destructive as pets. A hard bird to take care of, and they tend to bully other birds sometimes, even if they're a part of their flock. Macaws are able to mimic voices and sounds around it. Their caws are very loud and powerful, and sometimes sounds as if they're laughing! They can mimic simple words, songs, and some have been recorded to actually understand the words they mimic. A very well-versed bird in the art of language :> They're also a very intelligent and social bird, who thrives in attention of other flock members, and sometimes use tools to be able to forage for nuts and seeds. I kinda associate this to how Sarmenti revels in performance and plays his lute ;; These birds are very agile in the air, and their main mechanism of defense is to fly away, however, if threatened, they pull out all stops: biting, scratching, hitting with their wings. Very audacious, especially when confronted with much larger birds like hawks. Definitely shows the skill of his Dirk Stab or Harvest. Despite being a prey animal and omnivorous, do not underestimate their beak. It's strong enough to cleanly bite your finger off! (Tyrant's Finger-bone, anyone?) Thank you again for the ask Coffee!! It's very very fun :>

[kiwinatorwaffles]

hermit species headcanons: volume… 2!

i made this post two years ago when i was fresh to the series and was just getting to know the hermits. a lot has changed since then, but a lot has also stayed the same! my headcanons are getting refined every single time i talk about them, so chances are, this list won't even be accurate to my thoughts a year later.

with that being said, let's get started! click the cut to read them all

bdubs: glare! small, hates the dark, is a feral creature, will never let go of the moss. he and pungance were born from the same tree in the same patch of moss so they are brothers LMAO

beef: vampire! but not a full one. he was bitten by a bat and gained two vampiric traits exactly: fangs and sensitive skin. beef thinks his tendency to get sunburnt easily is just something in his code or a genetic condition. he never got it checked.

cub: alien shapeshifter! his original form is this shapeless void blob, and he can only copy how other beings look like. his forms were taken from two astronauts he saw in space, an old man and a young man. his void form can be seen slightly on his inner arm, where there is just a sliver of night sky hanging out

cleo: zombie (duh) cleo was permakilled by a witch's curse but when faced with the pearly gates they were like. nah. i'd rather be down there. and just straight up left and came back as a zombie. that's how she met joe. because he was sitting on top of her tombstone eating a sandwich

doc: originally a fae, but now he's super fucked up? what can i even say. he was a fae who got super interested in the sciences and started experimenting on himself just for the hell of it. there was that whole dinnerbone cyborg arm thing but he also managed to make himself a centaur form that he uses for extra storage and height. nobody knows where the creeper came from. was it from his dad's side? did he give it to himself? not even stress, his cousin, can tell you how he came to be. what the hermits DO know however is that he can steal pronouns by asking for them

etho: redstone deity! etho was an ancient builder who was executed for witchcraft upon his discovery of redstone. he was resurrected by the universe as a second chance and to spread his knowledge to the world. you can read more from my fic here ehehehehe

false: human! yes she is 100% human. i just thought it would be funny if such an awesome and skilled fighter was just some normal ass human with a bit of social anxiety

gem: forest spirit! she has nature powers and can change parts of her body to reflect parts of nature. she's a deer? an elf? nope! only sometimes. she can mix and match whatever traits she wants on any given day. but be careful of those deer legs and horns. they Hurt

grian: red macaw avian! he has bird feathers covering his ears, parrot wings, and bird talons! he is also able to mimic voices perfectly (which he uses to play pranks and swear in other hermits’ voices) and is a Hollow Boned Menace. he carries a lot of bird tendencies, like being a piece of shit or preening his friends’ hair when it’s too messy (which is always). in start of seasons, he has x lock away usage of his wings to keep himself from an unfair advantage. he also has stolen powers from the watchers, which he can use to change his wing colors or view the entire map from afar.

npg: ????????????? he’s supposed to be a robot, but he has wings and flies sideways?????? he’s somehow even more fucked up than robot grian. not even grian is sure of what he created tbh. he just knows he did NOT give npg those conure wings to begin with.

ariana griande: galah avian! she is grian's cousin who is a pop star. she has never actually been on hermitcraft before -- that was grian cosplaying as her.

hypno: human warlock! he accidentally made a pact when he replaced his tooth with a piece of cursed gold. jokes on his patron though, his faulty human memory can't even remember how he got his powers! he has lots of inscriptions as tattoos written in galactic just all over his body that he completely forgot how to read at this point and is immortal. maybe that's a bit bad for his sense of self-preservation

impulse: demon/imp! he used to be a gargoyle that dispensed candy, but a wizard passing by granted him life and well. now he's here! demons are actually underworld spirits that punish permadead players who have been genuinely horrible to the players around them, but impulse wanted to build houses and play with redstone instead of stirring the torture soup. so when he met skizz he decided hanging out with the players was the best thing to do. he also used to have larger horns and wings but his time on the surface has made his wings very tiny and unusable without the help of an elytra. skizz always teases him for this.

iskall: cyborg! the hermits don't know if he was fully human before the cyborgification. me, personally? i think it would be funny if she was actually built to protect a village but had too much of a personality so the villages just let him go have fun with the players. not sure if i want to adhere to that though

jevin: slime! certain slimes have evolved to be more like players. jevin is from the blue variety (that's his gender)

joe hills: ???????? void-born universe being??? joe is actually the oldest living being in the universe. he was just popped out of void (even predating the void gods) and spent all this time just doing whatever fuckall was around to do. he looks like a normal human being but just Slightly to the left, like his a bit-too-many teeth or slight lean when he stands. other than that, he acts like any other human!

joel: human mage! he actually only has powers of illusion that changes only how he looks. he Really wanted to be an orc but the spell couldnt last forever (as his fae wife lizzie found out after marriage). every day he wishes he had as much swag as shrek did. more on the headcanon here

keralis: weird fucking eldritch cryptid being? except he looks exactly like a human. nothing weird about him, nope. just don't look too closely at his eyes. he promises that he blinks like a normal person and not with his pupils.

mumbo: robot! with a core heart and stretchy limbs, he runs mainly on the consumption of redstone and occasionally typical foodstuffs. he had a creator before the days of hermitcraft (who originally built him as a war machine but something went deeply sideways during construction) that taught him all there is to know about redstone and the outside world. he also inherited the british accent and mustache from his creator. his creator did want him to be free and wiped mumbo's memory of his creation before setting him off into the overworld and letting him roam free. now he's just a silly guy!

grumbot: robot! he was first built to give suggestions on what to do with the mayoral elections but then he developed actual attachments to his horribly neglectant dads </3 but it's alright! he now chills with renbob and goatman up in the hermitheus

pearl: moon spirit! she was the moon from a player's hardcore world. the player used to talk to the moon for fun, but suddenly disappeared from the world one day. now feeling lonely, pearl took a humanoid form and descended to find where her player went, but she ended up discovering the joys of being a player herself. contrary to popular belief, she had no influence on the season 8 moon.

ren: weredog! can shapeshift into a dog form, which he usually uses to either run fast or play fetch. he’s also more prone to change when the moon is larger…. except he just becomes a hyperactive dog who chases his tail all night and is deeply embarrassed by it. he also probably has rabies, but everyone whom he has bitten probably already had something deeply wrong with them to begin with anyway

renbob: human...? he's related to ren from the human side, or at least that what he tells people. but he might as well be 50% weed by now

scar: human(?) wizard! he can fly, subtly change his physical appearance, cast spells, and do all sorts of magical shenanigans! he also can read galactic fluently, which is how he learned that hypno enchanted himself with loyalty at some point. jellie is his beloved familiar. also he's a capitalist. nobody knows where that came from

skizz: angel! why are there angels in minecraft, you might ask? some people are satisfied with their lives and let themselves permadie. skizz, after being born randomly from an angel statue (i wonder if it’s related to the other statue guy) was supposed to be one of the angels who helped escort players to the pearly gates, but he met impulse while his demon clan was taking a field trip to heaven. the two immediately became besties and skizz begged the universe to let him join the players. the universe begrudgingly agreed and now he's here! he hides his many other halos as ring tattoos on his arms as well

stress: fae! she's got fairy powers, magical swag, an affinity for flowers, and will beat you up if you assume she's the resident server cleric.

tango: ex-blazeborn! he saw some yummy packed ice and ate it, which extinguished his internal flame. his blazeborn tribe felt bad for him but knew it would be dangerous if he stayed, so tango just left for the overworld instead. he tries to convince people that he is 100% a human and not suspicious at all because he's embarrassed of having to explain that he lost most of his powers due to eating some yummy ice cream. a more detailed post about my headcanon can be found here

tfc: human! the only non-human aspect of him is a prosthetic leg. contrary to popular belief, he did not lose that leg while mining. it was after fighting a horde of skeletons. (he won)

wels: human. he's just a human. nobody believes him when he tells them because they've seen him accidentally level a building while sparring before. but nope. he's just a human. and a very fucked up one at that

hels: ???? techncially has the traits of wels, beef, and etho????? is there a species for evil clones created by copying machines or

xb: guardian! he was a guardian made to guard the magical treasures of ancient builders, but he got bored of staying in the same spot for centuries and his creators never returning. hypno casted a spell of bipedelity on xb, so now he can walk on land! i wrote a fic about it here too

xisuma: voidwalker! created by the young void gods, he was made from a fucking mspaint file where the void gods dicked around with the program and made a deeply fucked up being (him) on accident. he has no mouth, his hands are as black as the void, and his voice is terrifying without a modulator, which is why he wears a helmet. more about it in my fic here

evil x: also a voidwalker, but this time the void gods pressed random on a picrew and sent him out into an alternate dimension. he grew up in super england until x fished him out of the void. this little rascal has red scleras, ram horns, and a devil tail. he doesn't need to sleep, so he gets all his energy from eating, which is convenient because his sharp teeth can crunch anything and he can digest everything. his hair acts like an enderchest with a portal to the void, where he keeps snacks and various trinkets.

zedaph: human, but he’s not sane. i mean look at this guy. look at what he’s doing. nobody knows how he became so deeply fucked up but he's truly just Like That. he gave himself sheep features once on accident though

worm man: surprisingly, human. he's lucky to have stayed human for this long with his brother's insane experiments. accurate to popular belief, he has no superpowers.

[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.

[seekeraircaptain]

Can we get like info on all of the members of Slipstream's trine?

OMG OMG OMGGG I FINALLY GOT THIS ASKKKK

YES YES YES YESSSSS I'VE BEEN WAITTING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK ABOUT MY LITTLE GUYSSS TYSM ANONNNNN OKAY OKAYYYY

First off, we of course have Slipstream. She was constructed cold, but she was only one of three seekers who were ERSC flyers short for exhaust reversed stealth class flyers. During the start of the war, she ended up killing her trine because they joined the autobots and, of course, she joined the Decepticons, and during a battle they attacked her like many seekers. She did keep their wings, but she delated both of their files. She is a mostly unfeeling cannibal with a strange attachment to the dead and a volcanic temperament!

Second off, we have Blackout. Not a lot is known about Blackout; besides that, he is constructed cold; he has no known Trine before Slipstream's, and he is strangely very fragging big. He is mostly known as a silent menace due to him pulling pranks on all the other seekers; he's also very, very cuddly.

Third off, we have the big boy himself, Stallout. Stallout is a Predacon hybird, his sire being a Predacon, and his creator being a seeker. He was raised by his sire, so he behaves and acts like a Predacon far more than a seeker. He does not appear to look anything like a Predacon, besides his optics being the very well-known Predacon yellow and his height. While Stallout may appear as the most reasonable and calm member of the trine that is FAR from the truth, in reality Stallout is incredibly possessive, obsessive, of his trine and outright violent towards anyone who he thinks is a threat to his trinemates or even someone who is in love with one of HIS trinemates because simply his trine is HIS No one else's trinemates belong to him and no one else.

And the last member is Redwing. Redwing was in fact forged during the second part of the war, so he is very young, but he is currently the only known Seeker medic, unlike all the other members of his trine. He is in fact very calm and cool-headed, and even polite in most cases of meeting him. He is also an outlier, though his ability is currently unknown due to how young he is. 

Just going to seek this in, but there are 2 more members who aren't cybertronians. The first one is Sunworks, a Turbofox puppy, and Active, a macaw that was given to Slipstream. :3

[thriplerex]

Hermit Craft Rising AU: Grant "Glen" Collins

“You see, I’ve got this weird brain condition called stupidity…”

With more than a few screws loose, this British biologist turned mercenary sows chaos wherever he goes. One of the founders of Architech Worldwide with Oliver Bancroft and Iyod Samuelsson, rumors are that an unfortunate accident involving an industrial potato sorting machine (the details of which are unspecified, but rumors persist he pushed a button he shouldn’t have) made him a double amputee from the thighs down. Other rumors suggest he underwent the operation to become a cyborg voluntarily. Either way, he used the company’s funds to provide himself with lightweight cyborg legs with localized electromagnetic field generators, enabling him to disconnect them at will and control them independently of his body with great finesse, augmenting his already quick reflexes to superhuman levels. (His arms, though, remain entirely organic.)

This local control of electromagnetism actually extends to being able to manipulate and levitate objects around him, both nonmagnetic and magnetic, although it puts a massive drain on his energy reserves if he manipulates anything other than his body and darts. A winged propulsion pack he wears on his torso allows his main body a high degree of maneuverability equivalent to that of his limbs, making him a menace in the air.

Seemingly unhinged, thrill-seeking and what some might call a gremlin, Grant never turns down an opportunity to show off his flying and combat prowess. He often rushes in without taking time to ponder things, but beneath that adrenaline rush is a sharp, decisive, and calculatingly clever wit - it's very difficult to catch this adaptable Terraformer off guard, for he quite literally thinks on the fly (and in flight.) He arguably would also be the most likable of them - that is, if he wasn't working for the wrong side and if his priorities were better placed. His code name originates from a fault line in northern Scotland.

Age: 36 Hometown: Bexley, UK Signature weapon: A set of (at least) ten “Parakeet” iridescent spearhead-shaped “darts” that are magento-telekinetically controlled. The overall shape is that of a throwing dart, but the tip somewhat resembles a bird’s beak. The tail, however, is notched like that of an arrow and has tiny wings resembling that of a scarlet macaw’s. Made of an extremely dense, unspecified material - CCSC suspects it to be a kind of tungsten carbide or depleted uranium core. At the speeds at which he wields them, they can easily pierce lightly-armored vehicles and are quite the anti-personnel deterrent.

Everyone's favorite button-pusher, Grian! For his design, I decided to hone in more on the magnetokinetic powers of his MGRR counterpart and blend them with those of MCU Falcon, while maintaining a bit of Monsoon's ability to split his body up. Overall, I'm quite pleased with the different take on the bird motifs Grian is frequently drawn with. Again, like with many other characters in Hermit Craft Rising, due to the rather heavy nature of the source material (especially whatnot with Monsoon's sociopathic and pessimistic tendencies,) personality-wise this character substitution is very far removed from their MGRR counterpart.

Theme: V.S. Grant "Glen" Collins (The Stains of Time - Instrumental)

Hermit Craft Rising AU Masterpost

Art by Winter

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Recovery of Brazil’s Spix’s macaw, popularized in animated ‘Rio’ films, threatened by climate change

All Spix’s macaws are majestically blue in the blazing sun of Brazil’s Northeast, but each bird is distinct to Candice and Cromwell Purchase. As the parrots soar squawking past their home, the couple can readily identify bird No. 17 by its smooth feathers and can tell No. 16 from No. 22, which has two beads attached to its radio collar.

This familiarity offers a glimpse of the South African couple’s commitment to saving one of the world’s most critically endangered species. The parrot — endemic to a small fraction of the Sao Francisco River basin and already rare in the 19th century — was declared extinct in the wild in 2000, when a lonely surviving male disappeared following decades of poaching and habitat destruction from livestock overgrazing. The few remaining birds were scattered in private collections around the world.

For the Spix’s macaws, immortalized in the popular animated “Rio” films, the road back from the edge of extinction has been a long, winding and bumpy one.

Threats that had devastated the Spix’s macaws still loom, and the birds now face another menace: climate change. The species’ original territory overlaps what has recently been officially designated Brazil’s first arid climate region.

Continue reading.

[janeelyakiri]

Prompt

Skeles randomly grow wings out their backside

Macaw- Nope not using them. He is firmly on the ground and staying there.

Lupo- He's gonna need so much dawn soap he works with CARS and FEATHERS are not great for tiny garages full of oil and things!!

Falcon- This isn't going to make mafia life any easier!

Jackal- Makes it work, and even grooms them and makes them perfect. His morning routine is not 2 hours longer.

Jay- Would actually use them and be pretty damn efficient with them! Time to divebomb Killer!

Fox- Might learn to use them, might just nest more and sleep.

Crow- Like Jay, learns to use them. Loves that they're black crow feathers and takes great care of them. Possibly becomes a bit vain.

Hound- Time to become A Menace™

Vulture- Ooooo the things he can do. Time to divebomb Killer. Then Jay.

Hyena- Menace as well!

Robin- The worse menace of them all why would you give him WINGS-

Dingo- How is he suppose to roll over with these on!? He is doggo not borb!

Polly- Finally a way to avoid the boys when they wish to be Brat

[keplercryptids]

i keep thinking about the wild scarlet macaws i read about recently who grew up in/near a research center and harass the scientists every morning for their breakfast. and one of the scientists said, "if you offer them fruits or something they can get from the wild, they just look at you like, 'what? i can get that any old time.' they'll literally throw the fruit away. what these birds want is BREAD." also one of the macaws in particular was an absolute menace for pancakes. anyway i love parrots.

[mhcoolfacts]

Monster Hunter concepts Pt. 2: The Raptors II

After covering the raptor monsters from earlier gens it's time for those introduced from Monster Hunter Tri onwards. That brings us to the Jaggis and co.

The young males are known as Jaggi, the adult females Jaggia, and the alpha is known as Great Jaggi. This updated naming convention, using "Great" instead of the "-drome" suffix is not the only significant change in early bosses. It is clear that these small pink dinosaurs are an improvement over the Preys of previous generations, with a less rigid posture that feels bird-like and natural. Their pink and lilac colouration is also an interesting choice and somehow doesn't feel so out of place, and the frills on the sides of their head are a nice alternative to a crest. The Great Jaggi also improves the evolution of an leader design, as unlike Velocidrome, it isn't just a larger Velociprey with a larger crest: its body is way more robust and heavy, it has large hooked claws and bigger spikes on its tail, as well as a more prominent frill and a white mane running through it's neck and tail. It feels more menacing, or at least, menacing enough for a first boss fight. Can you hear it? AUGH AUGH AUGH. This monster is beloved by fans (despite being a punching bag) and it is definitely deserved, hopefully it will come back in future games.

Then we have Baggi and Great Baggi from the freezing Tundra (and also the Frost Islands), blue-yellow relatives of the Jaggi with a forward facing crest, their design might not be as elaborate, but the different limb shape and patches of fur are nice little changes that make them feel different enough. The Great Baggi doesn't fail to appear as a stronger boss either, thanks to its piercing yellow eyes, large crest and thicker limbs. The sleeping spit of these blue beasts also offers an additional level of difficulty.

Lastly for 3rd gen we have Wroggi and Great Wroggi, these are the most odd-looking of the bunch. Like Ioprey and Iodrome, their design has more amphibian traits, with a shiny orange skin and inflatable throat sacs. Wroggis sport two blue sacs on the sides, while Great Wroggi has a single, large purple sac as display structure. They are also poisonous, but unlike Iopreys, they emit this poison in a cloud that stays for a bit, making the fight against Great Wroggi a bit more interesting, breaking the throat sac of Great Wroggi also reduces its spitting ability, adding a tactical advantage to the break. Other elements on their design, including their narrow snout and multiple flaps on the forelegs and tail, kind of give it a feel of being semiaquatic despite being terrestrial.

While I wanted to talk about the etymology of the 3rd gen raptors, the truth is that it isn't really known. Theories include that Jaggi comes from "jagged" (due to their jagged tails), baggi comes from, well, "baggy" (referencing its sleep-inducing ability) and Wroggi (Furogi in Japanese) seems to come from "froggy" (ribbit ribbit). But honestly, it possibly is something less obvious.

In 4th gen we didn't get a new raptor until MH Generations with the Maccao and Great Maccao, these jumpy fellows have a pretty fancy design based on tropical birds: a yellow crest, vibrant red skin and green feathers on the body. They are also feisty and use their spiked tails and scuted limbs to hit you. The Great Maccao also uses a variety of movements including kicks and punches, something that previous raptors didn't really do, this makes its fight incredibly fresh and fun (if only it didn't last less than 5 minutes). The theme of this monster is clearly based on martial arts, and the name Maccao reflects this: while you may think it comes from "macaw", you couldn't be more wrong, as it is actually a combination of the taiwanese words Màt (punch) y Káo (knee).

Lastly we have the Izuchi and Great Izuchi that were introduced relatively recently in Monster Hunter Rise. Following the theme in the game around the yokai, it is quite obvious that this monster is based on the Kamaitachi, a weasel-like yokai with sickle-like limbs that travels in whirlwinds and leaves small cuts on people before they notice. Its chestnut fur is clearly based on a weasel, while the sickle tail on Great Izuchi is its predominant trait and main weapon. The most innovative gimmick of its fight, however, is that it always travels with two Izuchis and combines attacks with them. This raptor fight is by far the one that feels the most like a team fight. Lastly, to mention its etymology, unlike other "dromes" and "greats", the Japanese name for the Great Itachi isn't Dosuizuchi, but Osaizuchi, this is a combination of 長 osa (leader), 飯綱 izuna (weasel) y 窮奇 kamaitachi. Pretty cool right?

[eurovision-revisited]

Eurovision 2003: The Interval Act and Other Performances

Given the small budget and the amazing stage, it was inevitable that LTV would have to cut some corners somewhere. The interval was one of those corners. There was no reprise of the previous year's winner - even though that winner was one of the hosts. No humorous musical skits in the ad breaks, only visits to the green room.

The actual interval was a montage of four musical acts demonstrating Latvia's musical culture. Of course two of those acts were the hosts doing their thing - they couldn't completely sideline them!

But first it's Iļģi. They are one Latvia's most famous folk-rock bands, bring traditional instruments and tunes up to date and doing so here among some of Latvia's countryside. After then it's Renārs Kaupers's band Brainstorm singing on the roof of one of Riga's many Art Nouveau buildings under blue skies.

They're followed by Marie N being menaced in a park by someone dressed as a flamingo as the scariest game of snake and ladders ever takes place nearby. Very Lewis Carroll.

Lastly Raimonds Pauls, pianist, composer and former Minister of Culture, is joined at the piano by a magnificent scarlet macaw.

Effectively it's series of relatively low cost music videos cut to fill exactly the right amount of time the schedule demands. Not even any interpretive dance, unless you count the stilt walkers menacing Marie N. By the time it's over Marie and Renārs are in their white and cream scoreboard outfits - still absolutely amazingly dressed both of them.

And that's it.

[bjsmall]

02.03.23

We went into Tilford today, we dropped into Squire’s Frensham Garden Centre and I got a Beano Dennis the Menace and Gnasher strips collection book and Papo models of a Panther and Macaw!

The Beano Dennis the Menace and Gnasher book sits near to my Derek The Sheep books on my IKEA bookcase.

[sa7abnews]

Climate change threatens Brazil's beloved Spix's macaw from animated 'Rio' films

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/16/climate-change-threatens-brazils-beloved-spixs-macaw-from-animated-rio-films/

Climate change threatens Brazil's beloved Spix's macaw from animated 'Rio' films

All Spix’s macaws are majestically blue in the blazing sun of Brazil’s Northeast, but each bird is distinct to Candice and Cromwell Purchase. As the parrots soar squawking past their home, the couple can readily identify bird No. 17 by its smooth feathers and can tell No. 16 from No. 22, which has two beads attached to its radio collar.This familiarity offers a glimpse of the South African couple’s commitment to saving one of the world’s most critically endangered species. The parrot — endemic to a small fraction of the Sao Francisco River basin and already rare in the 19th century — was declared extinct in the wild in 2000, when a lonely surviving male disappeared following decades of poaching and habitat destruction from livestock overgrazing. The few remaining birds were scattered in private collections around the world.For the Spix’s macaws, immortalized in the popular animated “Rio” films, the road back from the edge of extinction has been a long, winding and bumpy one.SCIENTISTS SAY ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT IS AS ESSENTIAL AS EVER AFTER 50 YEARS OF SUCCESSThreats that had devastated the Spix’s macaws still loom, and the birds now face another menace: climate change. The species’ original territory overlaps what has recently been officially designated Brazil’s first arid climate region.The drier conditions worry Cromwell Purchase because of their potential impact on habitat for the few surviving Spix’s macaws.”A dry area only gets rain for a very short period of the year. A drought in that period might go an entire year before you’re going to get your next rain,” said Purchase, a tall and slim 46-year-old. “The animals are adapted to harsh environments, but they are on the edge. Any small increment of change will decimate populations.”In November, two federal research institutes released a study of rainfall water loss in plants and soil between 1960 and 2020. It showed that northern Bahia state, including Curaca, where the Spix’s macaws are trying to survive, is now consistent with a desert area. It also identified the expansion of semi-arid climate in the Northeast, where nearly 55 million people live.LESSER-KNOWN ENDANGERED SPECIES IN THE US THREATENED BY FUNDING DISPARITIES”If the planet is warmer, there will be much greater evaporation. So, the water leaves the environment and generates aridity,” the director of Brazil’s anti-desertification efforts, Alexandre Pires, told The Associated Press.Since 2005, semi-arid area in Brazil has expanded by 116,000 square miles and is now roughly the size of three Californias. The government is set to announce measures to avoid desertification by promoting better management of soil and other natural resources in the region.In the face of the changing climate and numerous challenges, at every turn the Purchases have dedicated the better part of their adult lives to breeding Spix’s macaws and reintroducing them into nature. The journey first took the biologists to work with a private collection on an oasis in Qatar. When the birds were sold to a nonprofit organization, the couple moved with them to Germany.Over the past four years, their efforts have been centered in the rural area of Curaca, a nondescript town of 34,000 people.Under an agreement between the Brazilian government and the German nonprofit Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots, 52 Spix’s macaws were sent in 2020 to Brazil on two charter flights. Federal police escorted them to breeding and reintroduction facilities accessible by a 1-hour drive on a rough dirt road, where the Purchases live and work for the nonprofit.The following year, 20 Spix’s macaws were released in the wild, along with 15 wild-sourced Blue-Winged macaws, whose purpose was to “teach” them how to fly, avoid risks and forage. Last year, two Spix’s macaw chicks were born in freedom — the first ones in decades— but they didn’t survive.All released birds were equipped with radio collars designed to resist macaws’ strong bills. Each collar has an antenna. The Purchases and their assistant check the birds’ locations three times a day.Half of the Spix’s macaws have died, mostly from predation, or disappeared. Now, the remaining ones live within 3 miles of the facilities, a compound that includes the couple’s house and a U-shaped flight-and-release cage that’s 51 yards long.In March, three more of the light pale blue chicks were born in the wild. Not only did they survive, but one of them also flew for the first time last week, a major breakthrough.”This event is so important as it shows how comfortable the parents are in their wild environment,” Candice Purchase said in a text message. “A remarkable achievement for the birds and an incredible success for the release.”US GOVERNMENT DECLARES RARE LIZARD ENDANGERED, SPARKING CLASH BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTALISTS AND OIL INDUSTRYTo mitigate the impacts of desertification, the German parrot nonprofit partnered with a private company, Blue Sky Caatinga, to promote reforestation of 59,300 acres in the territory of Spix’s macaw. This initiative involves engaging small farmers who heavily depend on goat raising.Unlike depictions in the animated films “Rio” and “Rio 2,” which brought attention to the Spix’s macaw extinction threat, the parrot’s natural habitat is far from Brazil’s most famous city, Rio de Janeiro, and the Amazon rainforest. It lives among the sparse, thorny, low caatinga vegetation that often loses greenery during dry periods. And the bird uses the Caraibeira, a towering evergreen tree that grows near small intermittent creeks, for nesting and food. During breeding season, the trees allow the pairs to conserve energy and avoid flying long distances to feed.When the macaws first arrived from Germany, they were offered various foods from the wild. “We found that it took a while for the birds to recognize them as food,” Purchase said. “But the Caraibeira tree produces a seed pod, almost like helicopter seeds. The Spix’s had never seen anything like it before. We put those in the cages and some picked them up and immediately knew how to open them and eat the kernel inside, which was totally remarkable and took us by surprise.”The project also faces challenges outside the natural world. On May 15, the federal government informed the nonprofit that it would terminate the agreement, which expires on June 5. In a statement to the AP, Brazil’s federal environmental agency said it discovered that, in 2023, the nonprofit transferred Spix’s macaws from its center in Germany to other countries without its consent. The agreement will not be renewed until the situation is clarified, but the government said the nonprofit can continue its reintroduction work. The project’s funding comes from international donors.The strained relations have put a pause on plans to release 20 parrots per year over 20 years. “No release in 2023 and now looking like a 2024 release is unlikely. It would be a shame for the project to fail because of government politics,” Purchase said.There are approximately 360 Spix’s macaws in captivity worldwide, with 46 in Curaca.Despite the hurdles, many residents of Curaca, even if they never have never seen a Spix’s macaw, expect them to soon return to flying over the region and not just be seen in countless paintings that made the parrot part of the city’s identity.”The project is already a success. They are free,” said Maria de Lourdes Oliveira, whose family leased part of their land for reforestation. “The most difficult thing was to arrive in Brazil. I cried when I saw them going to freedom and flapping their wings.”

[jodjuya]

I guess it depends on how you define "worst"... 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Raven/Racoon would be a menace and a half

Shoebill/Giant River Otter would be fairly terrifying

Indian Myna/Black Rat would be a real menace

Macaw/Macaque would be an extremely intelligent menace. (Plus oh my god that alliteration gives my entire being deep shivers of delight!!) This would be the type of gryphon that takes a page from the Sphynx and blocks the path of travellers until they answer its riddle. (The answer is always simply handing over any and all of the snacks on your person [you do NOT want to not have snacks upon your person should you encounter this type of gryphon!!!])

Secretary Bird/Greyhound: legs for daaays. Kills its prey with 70 km/h flying jump kicks.

Kiwi/Guinea Pig would be the worst at being a gryphon. Just a roly-poly fuzzball. A fluffy meatball with vestigial wings, nigh-vestigial legs, and nigh-vestigial vision.

Haast's Eagle/Giant Short Faced Bear. Complete opposite end of the spectrum to the Kiwi/Guinea Pig, and thank sweet fuckity christ that those things are extinct because this gryphon would be the size of a small building.

Pelican/Wolverine. Lock up your pets and keep your children indoors, this fearless feaster will consume any living creature in its path.

Goose/Stoat. Long neck. Long body. Long fearlessness. Long viciousness. Long hunger.

Tawny Frogmouth/Flying Fox. Something between Golbat and Crobat from Pokémon. Nocturnal omnivore featuring four wings and incredible camoflauge. Also most of its body is just one giant mouth. Swallows whole mangos in a single gulp. Looks like the tree itself is detaching one of its own branches to eat its own fruit.

It annoys me unreasonably when you want to ask people "what bird and what mammal would make the worst gryphon" as a fun thought exercise, and people with no joy and no imagination always interpret it as "a gryphon that sucks, is physically impossible, and would hate being alive", and - being predictable and lacking in imagination - always, always answer with "a hummingbird and a blue whale lol".

Like come on. Why do you have to suck the fun out of everything. Why not use a fraction of imagination and delightful whimsy. Imagine the combination of a mouse and a sparrow. That creature would be merciless, burtal, absolutely determined to get into your trash and has the power of both wings and hands to do its will. Or a crow and a cat - that thing is smart enough to fuck with people and not afraid to do it. Imagine the ungodly shriek of the noble fox-seagull, also determined to get into your trash.

A gryphon that is a combination of a kangaroo and a cassowary. The only proof we have of a loving god is the fact that those things do not exist. If hell is real, it's full of them. That thing can't fly, but it will run you down, it will kill you, and you will look stupid the whole entire time you're dying.

Why would the first thing that pops into your mind at the words "the worst gryphon" automatically be "a gryphon that hates being alive". Can you not picture a gryphon that fucking loves being alive, and has both the power and the will to make it everyone else's problem.

[the-whispers-of-death]

I’m back!! 🫧

I have a lot to catch up on and a couple of thoughts to send in later, but I just have to say that Rusty brought up birds…

Without getting into the angst that spawned last time I discussed birds on this blog (no major backstory changes, I promise) I want to give me opinion on Stone. If we’re talking sheer menace to society vibes, I’m giving him Emu status. Idk why I’m agreeing on this one because I think he also has hyacinth macaw (my favourite bird :D) vibes, huge but cuddly.

I wanna know what parrot you think I would be 👀 I wanna know what impression I’ve given off. My first thought was an African grey because I am a certified yapper and they’re the best talkers (can confirm, I had one who would not stop talking), but then I don’t yap at many people so maybe I’m more of a cockatiel in that department.

I dunno, maybe you think I’m a feral pidgeon.

Welcome back, I hope your exams went well.

I don't really know much about birds, so I will just agree on your first thought with you being an African Grey.

Stone definitely gives Emu vibes.

[eyes-talks-ocs]

I did a thing! Still playing around with how my new laptop handles my tablet.

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Macaw is a dumpster fire, but he's my dumpster fire and I will fight anyone that criticizes my child. (Not really, seriously, roast him and hold him accountable for his actions because he's a menace to society.)

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My commissions are open if anyone is interested!!