Riyanni - Mouse Finches

Riyanni, or Mouse Finches, are a family of four-legged birds. The name Riyanni loosely translates to "Tiny Birds". They are nocturnal omnivores, hiding underground during the day. they are one of the most successful groups of birds, with over a thousand similar but still individual species spread across the world. They are found in almost any environment from caverns and islands to forests and tundra, as well as the insides of many old Regalti ruins. they are even found in the sky.

Riyanni are generally skittish and afraid of any animals larger than they are. The slightly larger Shoryi are known to hunt and kill Riyanni and many species of Shoryi exclusively eat Riyanni. Many Riyanni have evolved specialized fur patterns to evade these predators specifically.

Evolution

Riyanni evolved roughly 100 million years ago. While mass extinctions were going on due to an extended volcanic winter, the ancestors of Riyanna were burrowing into the ground, waiting out the apocalypse in safety. Their wings atrophied and eventually completely disappeared.

After the volcanic winter ended, Riyanni started to reapidly spread around the world. Due to their short lifecycles, they diversified and evolved quickly. There are several mountain ranges where each geographically isolated mountain range has a separate species of Riyanni. The individual plateaus and mesas of the Red Table desert have different species, as do the individual islands of the Ladgan Swamps and Keys.

There are even individual species of Riyanni that go through their entire life cycles thousands of meters in the sky, on the top of Skyshells, large floating jellyfish, in ecosystems known as Sky Meadows.

Even in some regalti ruins (as a result of the Exodus), different species evolved. Due to the size of the structures, the Riyanni in one part of the ruin, such as the ground level, is diversified enough from Riyanni in another part of the ruin to be considered an entirely different species.

Conservation Status:

No Concern

Note: several species, especially island varieties, are Critically Endangered

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves (Jinani)
Family: Passer Muridae

Common Name(s):

Riyanni(Common)

Mouse finches (English)

Geographic distribution

Riyanni are found all over the world except for polar areas.

Characteristics

The average Riyanni regardless of species stands around 8-10 centimeters tall at the shoulders and they weigh 40-60 grams. Most species of Riyanni are plainly colored from brown to grey, but domesticated varieties can be any color. Their feathers are generally short, but longer feathers are in place around the rump, hindquarters and the back of the head. Their chirping is generally very high pitched and they are known to sing in groups.

Riyanni are excellent jumpers, swimmers, and climbers. They are light enough to survive falls from any height. These birds are nocturnal though some species are more active during the day. They eat primarily seeds, but are known to eat other small plants as well as mollusks and arthropods.

Riyanni have short life cycles. They grow to adulthood after only ten weeks and have a maximum lifespan of around three years. A female can lay a clutch of three to five eggs up to six times a year.

Varieties

Field Riyanni

characterized by mottled fur, these birds are found primarily in grasslands and underbush across the world. The mottled plumage helps with camouflage against predators. Under UV light, these birds have brightly colored spots with various colors. One species of Field Riyanni was domesticated thousands of years ago and now millions of Regalti keep one or more as pets. There are hundreds, if not thousands of varieties of domesticated Riyanni.

Island Riyanni

There are many different species of Riyanni found on islands all over the world and often there is one species evolved to live on each island, no matter how big or small. Many have black tipped feathers, which can confuse some predators into misjudging their actual size. They also have larger beaks, specialized for breaking open larger tropical nuts. Some have also been observed eating arthropods, fish, small mammals, and lizards.

Mouse of Paradise

These Riyanni often have brightly colored feathers to blend in with the more brightly colored surroundings of the tropics. Each species evolved to hide in or around a specific plant, and some species spend their entire life cycles in the canopies of trees, never reaching the ground. This group also hitched a ride on a Skyshell several million years ago, and with few natural predators, the Riyanni of the Sky Meadows are even more brightly colored than their tree or ground based cousins.

Pets

Domesticated versions of mouse finches have been around for thousands of years. They are a popular pet to keep aboard the many space stations throughout the star system as they don't take up space and are easy to take care of. Through artificial breeding, numerous different varieties have been created, with almost every color plumage and different colored eyes. As they are social animals, keeping them in groups of two to five individuals is recommended.

If someone is planning to own one, it is recommended to get one around the age of ten weeks as they have a tendency to bite hands that are unknown to them. It is also recommended to handle them regularly with both hands, because they will bite an unknown hand even if it is on the same individual.