Silver Peep

Silver peeps are a small passerine found across the Frost Lands and Trecath. Silver peeps are the national bird of Kaltia, and are one of the most recognisable species despite displaying a drab plumage.

Anatomy

Silver peeps are spherical shapes, with small wings, small heads, and thin short legs. Their legs are a bright orange, with three toes on each foot and a small claw on each toe. Their beaks are a dark grey-black colour, and they have a pair of small beady eyes on the sides of their heads. Silver peeps have short tail feathers, but these grow with age and never stop.

Sexual Dimorphism

Male silver peeps are slightly larger than females, and also grow their tail feathers at a faster rate. As well, male silver peeps have slightly darker feathers, but this is unnoticeable from far away and requires a closer look.

Reproduction

Nests

Silver peeps will spend months prior to nesting season digging out a hole in a tree for their nest. Then, during nesting season, the pair will collect leaves, sticks, fur and moss among others to create a comfier nest. There are limited trees where silver peeps live, so these birds will nest in colonies, taking over the whole tree. When too many nests are carved into the tree it loses its integrity and will collapse.

Eggs & Hatching

Females lay anywhere from 4 to 8 eggs every nesting season. The eggs are just a centimetre in width.

The eggs take 14 days to hatch, and the chicks fledge a month after hatching. The bird's first mating season is when they hatch the most eggs, and they will hatch less and less eggs each year.

Behaviour

Silver peeps are incredibly shy birds. They are rarely seen in the wild because they sense the presence of predators from far away and duck and hide in snow. They consider any animal larger than them as predators, much to the dismay of birdwatchers. Because of this rarity, seeing a silver peep is considered incredibly lucky and was the leading factor for making the bird the national bird of Kaltia.

Lifespan

3 - 4 years

Average Length

9 - 10 cm

Geographic Distribution

• Cairan Desert
• Frost Lands
• Frost Mountain Range
• Greenerth
• Trecath

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