Orange Tuffed Desert Wraith

Pteranychus siccoranesis

Flying over the heat-baked rock desert of the Southern Siccoran highlands is the Orange Tuffed Desert Wraith (Pteranychus siccoranesis), a small enantiornithine bird specializing in hunting desert insects under the cover of darkness. The desert wraith has many unique adaptations to this lifestyle; its feet are zygodactyl and used to grasp and flip over objects to uncover hiding insects, its wing claws and foot talons are sharp and strong enough to carve open bark for the same purpose. The facial disc serves the same function as that of owls, helping them find and locate hiding insects.

Primarily coloured to camouflage into the desert environment, desert wraiths hide a crest of red feathers flat against their head which can be flared to communicate with others of their kind, primarily to impress mates and scare rivals.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: Ornithothoraces
Clade: Enantiornithes
Family: Pteranychinae
Genus: Pteranychus
Species: P. siccoranesis