Acid Bellow
Giant terror birds of the Dry Reef
Anatomy
Their heads are large compared to its body size, and they are covered in large armour pieces, that greatly resemble a skul. Their head is long and thin, with the back of the head ending in a spike. Their lower jaw armour piece sits neatly inside its upper jaw, which extends downwards in a strap shape round the lower jaw. Along the long neck is a red sail; its purpose is somewhat unclear, but it is believed to be to attract mates. Acid bellows have legs that are longer than their necks, and a lack of fatigue allows them to run forever without tiring. They have a large, bushy tail, with many rounded yellow feathers with purple dots. The bright colours deter predators, letting them know of their gas breath. Acid bellows have bright yellow feathers, with striking purple and red stripes.Diet
Acid bellows are the biggest carnivorous bird on Talerin. They mostly consume large herbivores and many other animals. Millions of years ago, they were a Ukari Person's only natural predator. Since females are bigger, and therefore stronger, they go out hunting more often, while the male stays at the nest looking after eggs, unless there aren't any then the male may join the female hunting. The birds use their gas to suffocate the prey, billowing it out of their mouths which unhinge at almost 150º angles. The gas is a bright pink, which seems to be attracted to larger heat signatures, and when the heat dies off the gas dissipates. The gas enters the prey's lungs, blocking oxygen from entering, and suffocating them to death. Luckily, the bird's body is immune to the gas, and filters exist in the trachea that prevents the gas from getting further into the lungs.Reproduction
Acid bellows mate for life, finding this mate occurs when the bird is about 3 years old. The birds lay large purple eggs in well hidden caves and cracks in the dry reef during Er'aes. The male will protect the eggs with its life, while the female goes out looking for a large prey to kill and bring back to the eggs, such as camelcoats or, if they're lucky, talerin sandworm. The female uses its strong head to drag the prey back to the nest, and the female and male feasts on it while the eggs are incubating, so they can spend more time with the eggs. The females also kill and bring back carcasses when the eggs are hatched, for the babies to eat as much as they can.Habitat
Acid bellows live in the Dry Reef of Talerin. Generally avoiding society, they live far inland where it is too dangerous for the Ukari People to explore. The birds like to be close to watering holes and rivers, where they can drink, bathe and cool down. Acid bellows create their nests underneath large trees, most of the time sandal trees that have a large shaded area underneath.Adaptations
Acid bellows have exceptional hearing. The large holes in their heads funnels in sound from all around into their earholes. The only problem is when the sound gets funneled in the bird cannot locate where it came from, so they have to use their eyes to locate them, which is slightly difficult since they don't have the best eyesight.
Acid bellows are most famous for their gas that is released from the sac on their throats, but they are named after the poison that is released from the tail. This poison is corrosive and extremely dangerous, it is released when the bird is agitated, and swings its poison coated tail around. If the poison is then gotten on you, you immediately need to run it under water, wiping it off, otherwise your skin will corrode, burn and peel off.
Tak'are
1204
End Date
1207
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