The Elessar Firebird

The Elessar Firebird

----Scientific Classification---- Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Lari-Alcidae Genus: Phalacrocorax Species: P. Incendium

The Elessar Firebird (P. Incendium) is a magnificent bird. Named for the famed Gondorian king Aragorn, the appearances of the female and male are largely different.

The female (originally called P. Etiamstella) is larger than the male, with wings made just right for swimming and flying alike. With webbed feet, any fish that escaped her scoop beak is lucky. Her coloring is fairly bland, though her fire-colored feet and bluish beak have earned her nicknames such as ‘Fire-foot’ and ‘Blue-bill’.

After fishing, she returns to the aerie where her mate is waiting. If there is a chick (they only can have one egg at once, making the species highly endangered), she will return four times a day; otherwise she will return only once. If she fails to do so at precisely the right time, her mate and chick will die.

The male (originally and yet still P. Incendium) was at first mistaken for the phoenix, when it still lived in the cliff aeries in Greece. Stories arose from this very bird, telling of how it was reborn in ashes, lived forever, and could heal any poison. While sadly this creature could not do any of this, he does protect his nest fiercely, and scares away predators with his blinding plumage.

He has clawed feet to climb and grip rocks, and a sharp beak and talons to stab and rip any invaders apart. He doesn’t fly; his wings are used only to frighten predators, or to impress a potential mate. They are elliptical-shaped, though with no purpose. There are two eyes in the far upper corners to scare, as well.

However, if this description conjures up an image of a hostile, beautiful yet terrible bird, do not be fooled. The male is an excellent judge of character, and if the creature does not attack immediately, he will entertain the other creature with regurgitated fish. It may be poisonous, or it may not be- all according to his appraisal. If you find yourself in this situation, you have no choice- if you do not eat it, you will be torn apart, regardless of your intentions. The Elessar Firebird is an easily insulted bird, and will not hesitate to kill at the slightest slip-of-the-tongue.  

The Elessar Firebird once lived far across the globe, but now lives only in the Pacific cliffs of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Canada. The eggs were once in high demand, but because of this, the population has dwindled and now is under such protection that no one has seen it much less heard of it (except for in the legends).  The female shall forever be known as ‘that crazy seagull over there’, and never known for who she is. Of course you’ll hear stories ever so often of the blazing bird in the cliffs… but that is for another story altogether.