[Creature Lore] Starry Owl

[Forgefire 71]

Starry Owl

Spoiler

 

 

 

(Artistic renditions)

 

 

Origin

The starry owl is an uncommon species of owl native to the towering mountains and trees of Aevos. Their uniquely colored feathers give the appearance of the starry night sky when viewed from below, providing camouflage during the darkest hours of the night. These owls nest far up high, as close to the stars as they can get, where their illusory appearance is hardest to discern. They can be found in any tall peak or pine across the land, albeit slightly rarer than other owls.

 

Biology

Starry owls are easily identifiable by their unique plumage. Similar at first glance to a black-banded owl's feathers, they are mainly dark black in color, with very small stripes of silver, cyan, and light yellow that create the starry illusion from afar. The primary wing feathers contain less pigmentation than the body and tail feathers, being almost completely black. Their body feathers are bound extremely tight together during flight, creating an almost smooth sheen that reflects moonlight just enough to make their 'stars' shine. On cloudy nights or during a new moon, they can somewhat hide the colorful parts of their feathers, but not completely, making them more easily identifiable and less active during these times.

 

These owls range in size similarly to the black-banded owl - males being between 9-12 inches in height with a 17-22 inch wingspan, and females being between 10-14 inches in height with a 19-26 inch wingspan.

 

Behavior

Being strictly nocturnal, like most owls, starry owls sleep during most of the day and only hunt during the darkest hours of the night. As such, they become more active during the winter season, when nights are longer. This causes an interesting phenomenon where, unlike many migratory animals that follow the warm season, starry owls will migrate at the beginning of summer, just after mating season, to follow the longer nights. They are very capable navigators, able to fly long distances with consistent accuracy, which has motivated some to use them for delivering letters.

 

Starry owls are solitary creatures, never being seen in groups larger than a pair after being old enough to survive on their own. They usually mate for life, and lay 2-4 eggs each breeding season, if conditions allow. Breeding season most often takes place during early spring, but is heavily influenced by the availability of food.

 

Taming

Uniquely, starry owls are able to be tamed rather consistently, with enough patience. Once its trust is gained, it remains very loyal to its owner, regularly returning after being let out. It does require a good measure of care, though. Spending time with them during their waking day hours and letting them out every night to hunt for food are both necessary. Starry owls will only bond with one person, though, and are shy around anyone else. They possess minimal faculties for training, only able to be trained in very simple tasks, and will never comply to being trained to attack or defend.

 

Spoiler

Redlines

-Cannot be trained to do more complex tasks than answer to a name, be called, and act as a flavored way to send letters

-CANNOT provide any combative advantage AT ALL, purely for RP

-Can only have one trusted owner at a time, will take extensive training and persuasion to switch owners

Spoiler

OOC Purpose

Owls normally cannot be domesticated and make for terrible pets, which is really sad. I think there should be more tame and flavorful creatures to contribute to our awesome and underrated zoology RP.

 

[BakedPotato 372]

This is neat, i like

[mothsthetic 502]

oh to be the neighborhood crazy starry owl lady

[Rhettthecoldone 81]

Want now. I need now.

[tadabug2000 3614]

I want and I love this

[Bethinwonderland 1178]

I would like five please and thank you!!

[xo31 560]

is it voidal...

[Forgefire 71]

41 minutes ago, xo31 said:

is it voidal...

thought about it but no

[NightcastorKitty 1272]

[VoidTermnia 278]

adding this to moths list of random ass magical animals as we speak