#theuntamed / #CQL characters as (North American) birds: a thread

(not spoiler free!)

First up: the Lan are herons:
- Elegant
- (...mostly)
- Really good at sitting still

Lan Xichen: great blue heron
- Extremely tall
- Lives in isolated spots that are hard to reach on foot
- Looks delicate, but can definitely fuck you up

Lan Wangji: great egret
- Looks just like a great blue heron, but its plumage is all white
- Gets real fancy-looking when trying to attract a mate
- Doesn’t really make much noise

Lan Jingyi: green heron
- Very smart; one of the only birds to fish using a lure
- Also incredibly weird

Lan Qiren: tricolored heron
- Adults interact with their angsty teens by bowing
- Generally solitary, except when raising young

Next up: the Nie are raptors:
- Careful observation meets…
- The ability to fuck you right up with sharp things

Nie Huaisang: zone-tailed hawk
- While hunting, the hawk mimics a harmless vulture until it’s too late to get away
- Solitary as adults
- Second chicks sometimes treated as “spares” that only receive attention if the older sibling dies

Nie Mingjue: golden eagle
- Fucking huge
- Cliff dweller
- Surprisingly emotional voice

Moving on, the Jin are shorebirds:
- Numerous
- Vaguely gold-toned
- Loud as fuck

Jin Guangyao: killdeer
- Will fake a broken wing to lead predators away from the nest and then fly away when danger is a safe distance away
- Also, huge eyes

Jin Ling: semipalmated plover
- Small and adorable
- Can look a lot like a mini killdeer…
- ...but knows how to swim!

Jin Zixuan: greater yellowlegs
- Tall
- Gold
- Can be found standing ankle-deep in mud during courtship behaviour

Jin Zixun: lesser yellowlegs
- Like a greater yellowlegs, but… less
- LOL

Jin Guangshan: buff-breasted sandpiper
- Gold-look outfit
- Love ‘em and leave ‘em style; males take no role in raising young
- Often sire multiple young per mating season

Madam Jin: sanderling
- Aggressively defends territory
- Will chase a goal even if it seems impossible

Luo Qingyang (Mianmian): wandering tattler
- Short and cool
- Young leave the nest with their parents at an early age
- Gives an early warning against danger

The Jiang are ducks, of course
- Water-lovers
- Aesthetic!

Jiang Cheng: harlequin duck
- Extremely fashionable
- Also extremely prone to broken bones / injuries
because they live a hardcore life

Jiang Yanli: Hooded merganser
- Great hair
- Has a very fancy husband
- ...babies leave the nest at one day old

Madam Yu: wood duck
- encourages babies to jump from a nest at great height
- ...but provides no help in this task

Jiang Fengmian: ruddy duck
- Was once described this way:
- “Its intimate habits, its stupidity, its curious nesting customs and ludicrous courtship performance place it in a niche by itself”

Wei Wuxian: American coot
- Looks like a duck, but is actually closer to a heron (!)
- Red eyes
- Adults show a marked preference for the chicks with the most attention-grabbing looks

Last of the main sects, the Wen are owls:
- They have an owl demon made of smoke what more justification do you want

Wen Ruohan: great horned owl
- huge and scary
- eats literally anything it can catch

Wen Chao: barred owl
- This is a callout post because one time a barred owl attacked me
- Also, barred owls are expanding their range and threatening the endangered...

Wen Qing: northern spotted owl
- Endangered by 1) society and 2) the aforementioned barred owl
- Loyal to home and family
- A threat to them caused an enormous societal conflict

Wen Ning: northern saw-whet owl
- Looks babie
- Is actually EXTREMELY hardcore and regularly takes down prey larger than itself

Wen Zhuliu: great gray owl
- Incredibly powerful
- Mysterious
- Doesn’t talk

Lan Sizhui: a snowy owl
- Start out with darker feathers, then get whiter plumage as they age
- Young owls like cuddling
- Nomadic as adults

As for the Yi City gang, they're galliformes - the “chicken-like” ground birds
- There’s no good summary photo for this, so here’s a fancy chicken in their theme colours

Xiao Xingchen: rock ptarmigan
- Lives an inhospitable lifestyle associated with snow
- Pure white plumage makes them extremely conspicuous
- EYES

Song Lan: california quail
- Raised communally
- Fancy topknot

Xue Yang: chukar
- Also known as the “devil bird” because...
- It almost always gets away from hunters

A-Qing: montezuma quail
- Secretive
- Sticks close to home
- Makes eerie noises known to freak out unsuspecting visitors

finally: a BONUS ROUND of characters who didn't quite fit in elsewhere
- here's a photo of a calliope hummingbird just because

Ouyang Zizhen: laysan albatross
- Romantic as all hell
- Likes travel
- A little awkward but very lovable

Su She: little blue heron
- Imitates other herons
- Often overlooked

And last but not least:

That's all folks! Thanks for coming on a silly, bird-y adventure with me!