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Description

These beautiful avians are a species unique to Verni, a world I’m designing for a story. They’re about a tand tall (two-hands, haha) and don’t vocalize much, except to communicate to their chicks or flock when line-of-sight isn’t available. Their primary method of communication is via their glowing floof-balls. They can intentionally control both the color and luminosity of these glows, which is very useful both for communication (they use some sort of morse code) and in hunting.

They live in deciduous forests or plains, and hunt running on the ground. They can run about twice as fast as an average Verniian citizen. GlowRunners' small wings aren't suited for flight, but can provide a burst of speed enough to get up to twice a man's height off the ground. They're nocturnal.

They live in flocks of 5-20, with up to 4 mated pairs and their young, hunting in groups of 2-5 or as individuals. Sometimes they sit in trees or on the ground to lure moths, by mimicking the glow patterns of Glowing Dandies (a variety of glowing flowers). Their glowing floofs look nearly exactly like those flowers, which moths and other insects like to pollinate. In addition to moths and various insects drawn by their glows, they also hunt small lizards, snakes, mammals, birds and even lesser dragons. When hunting actively (not luring insects), GlowRunners will turn off their glows in order to draw less attention to themselves. Interestingly, deactivating their glows also desaturates the color in their feathers, turning even the brightest, most flamboyant GlowRunners into something still not quite camouflaged, but much more stealthy. A GlowRunner that has its floof removed (by predators or humans) will lose all its color, and if all its floof is removed at once, it will never regrow.

GlowRunners exhibit some sexual dimorphism. Males tend to be 5-15% larger than females, with highly saturated, warm-toned accent colors. Females’ accent colors are much more muted, and are nearly always tones of blue. Even at their brightest, the females’ accent colors barely approach the saturation of the males’ accent colors when their glows are deactivated; and the males’ accent colors, even with their glows turned off, can only be as desaturated as the females’ when their glows are strongest. The reason for this is simple. Females stay behind to guard the nest when there are eggs or hatchlings to care for. This necessitates a greater ability for the females to hide and camouflage, while the males go out to draw attention away from the vulnerable little ones. Further, the brighter a male’s glow and color, the more likely he is to be able to attract a mate. This is especially important because GlowRunners mate for life, and once a GlowRunner is past his prime, his chances for finding a mate are next to nothing.

The lifespan of a GlowRunner is about 7-8 years, reaching maturity at 3 years old. Mated pairs take equal care of the eggs, then chicks, with males helping to warm the young once they're hatched. Nests are made up off the ground, even though GlowRunners don't fly well as adults. Default strategy when a nest is threatened is for the mother to stay with the chicks and the father to attack viciously, drawing off the predator. If the threat is sufficient, the mother will attack as well. Teen-aged chicks will fly away from predators, but any chicks younger than that are simply helpless. Because GlowRunners live in flocks, the nests will be grouped together, allowing for several males to hassle a potential predator at once. Any old birds (5-8 years old) in the flock will stay back with the chicks as a last line of defense, or even guide chicks away from danger if possible while both the mothers and fathers of the flock keep the predator busy.

GlowRunners are admired by Verniians for their beautiful colors and glowing floof balls, as well as their speed and hunting prowess. Recent fashion trends have high-born ladies wearing GlowRunner floof as adornment on hats, belts, shoes, as earrings, and even on purses and satchels. With the right Beionic enchantments, GlowRunner floof can be set to glow on specific patterns, in loops or even in response to certain stimuli. This fad is all the rage in cities like Lottie’s Port, Teba, Bigton, and Dobb. Animal lovers of Verni hate this fad, because once a GlowRunner loses its floof, it loses its place in its flock, and is no longer able to hunt moths or other insects, which are an important part of a GlowRunner’s diet. Most Verniians don’t know that though, and are content to believe that the GlowRunners weren’t killed in order to have their floof harvested.

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www.deviantart.com/lewhimsira/…

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You do NOT have permission to copy, download, re-post, or use this piece in any way. Please respect my art!!

Description

These beautiful avians are a species unique to Verni, a world I’m designing for a story. They’re about a tand tall (two-hands, haha) and don’t vocalize much, except to communicate to their chicks or flock when line-of-sight isn’t available. Their primary method of communication is via their glowing floof-balls. They can intentionally control both the color and luminosity of these glows, which is very useful both for communication (they use some sort of morse code) and in hunting.

They live in deciduous forests or plains, and hunt running on the ground. They can run about twice as fast as an average Verniian citizen. GlowRunners' small wings aren't suited for flight, but can provide a burst of speed enough to get up to twice a man's height off the ground. They're nocturnal.

They live in flocks of 5-20, with up to 4 mated pairs and their young, hunting in groups of 2-5 or as individuals. Sometimes they sit in trees or on the ground to lure moths, by mimicking the glow patterns of Glowing Dandies (a variety of glowing flowers). Their glowing floofs look nearly exactly like those flowers, which moths and other insects like to pollinate. In addition to moths and various insects drawn by their glows, they also hunt small lizards, snakes, mammals, birds and even lesser dragons. When hunting actively (not luring insects), GlowRunners will turn off their glows in order to draw less attention to themselves. Interestingly, deactivating their glows also desaturates the color in their feathers, turning even the brightest, most flamboyant GlowRunners into something still not quite camouflaged, but much more stealthy. A GlowRunner that has its floof removed (by predators or humans) will lose all its color, and if all its floof is removed at once, it will never regrow.

GlowRunners exhibit some sexual dimorphism. Males tend to be 5-15% larger than females, with highly saturated, warm-toned accent colors. Females’ accent colors are much more muted, and are nearly always tones of blue. Even at their brightest, the females’ accent colors barely approach the saturation of the males’ accent colors when their glows are deactivated; and the males’ accent colors, even with their glows turned off, can only be as desaturated as the females’ when their glows are strongest. The reason for this is simple. Females stay behind to guard the nest when there are eggs or hatchlings to care for. This necessitates a greater ability for the females to hide and camouflage, while the males go out to draw attention away from the vulnerable little ones. Further, the brighter a male’s glow and color, the more likely he is to be able to attract a mate. This is especially important because GlowRunners mate for life, and once a GlowRunner is past his prime, his chances for finding a mate are next to nothing.

The lifespan of a GlowRunner is about 7-8 years, reaching maturity at 3 years old. Mated pairs take equal care of the eggs, then chicks, with males helping to warm the young once they're hatched. Nests are made up off the ground, even though GlowRunners don't fly well as adults. Default strategy when a nest is threatened is for the mother to stay with the chicks and the father to attack viciously, drawing off the predator. If the threat is sufficient, the mother will attack as well. Teen-aged chicks will fly away from predators, but any chicks younger than that are simply helpless. Because GlowRunners live in flocks, the nests will be grouped together, allowing for several males to hassle a potential predator at once. Any old birds (5-8 years old) in the flock will stay back with the chicks as a last line of defense, or even guide chicks away from danger if possible while both the mothers and fathers of the flock keep the predator busy.

GlowRunners are admired by Verniians for their beautiful colors and glowing floof balls, as well as their speed and hunting prowess. Recent fashion trends have high-born ladies wearing GlowRunner floof as adornment on hats, belts, shoes, as earrings, and even on purses and satchels. With the right Beionic enchantments, GlowRunner floof can be set to glow on specific patterns, in loops or even in response to certain stimuli. This fad is all the rage in cities like Lottie’s Port, Teba, Bigton, and Dobb. Animal lovers of Verni hate this fad, because once a GlowRunner loses its floof, it loses its place in its flock, and is no longer able to hunt moths or other insects, which are an important part of a GlowRunner’s diet. Most Verniians don’t know that though, and are content to believe that the GlowRunners weren’t killed in order to have their floof harvested.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COMMISSIONS are open!!

www.deviantart.com/lewhimsira/…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You do NOT have permission to copy, download, re-post, or use this piece in any way. Please respect my art!!