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Out on a Limb

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Blixes are a genus of aberrant flightless swiftlets notable for their extreme specializations as ambush predators in waterside environments. Their wings are reduced significantly from their ancestral form and their hind limbs are so small as to be all but hidden in their shaggy plumage. No longer able to fly, they use their powerful forearms and all seven of their digits to climb through the lower canopy of western Aenvarna's rainforests, never straying far from the shores of its abundant rivers and estuaries. Usually, locomotion occurs in a leisurely manner and predominately while the animal is inverted, hanging down from the branches in the manner of a sloth, but if pressed the creature will rise upright and swing from vine to vine, demonstrating a specialized shoulder socket that flexes to accommodate almost any posture. The blixes are almost obligate carnivores and prey heavily on fish and other small freshwater prey including finkin and large invertebrates which are speared or snapped up rapidly by the sharp bill and a swift swing of a pendulous neck that may stretch to six feet - half again as long as the rest of the animal's body altogether.

The feathers of a blix are hard and hair-like, water-repellent, and colored almost exactly like the moss that grows on rainforest trees- in fact, different species preferentially prefer to roost against different sorts of moss - and trees - that most closely match their plumage when hunting. Their feathering grows upwards along the back, in a reverse pattern to most animals, and is longest at the joints and shoulders, where it hangs downwards exactly like the strands of moss. The blix's camouflage allows the animal to position itself above the water and blend completely into the backdrop, disguising it not only from prey, but predators as well, as it waits for a victim to swim close enough just below the waiting beak to strike. The blix is not only forced to wait for prey to happen by on their own accord, however, but additionally will attempt to lure in curious animals via delicate flickers of the six to ten sturdy barbed quills which form a sparse crest upon its forehead against the water's surface. The quills are tufted white at their tips and as they flit upon the water, creating small ripples, they closely resemble small insects alighting on the water's surface and bring in a variety of hungry fishes hoping for a free meal. When an interested fish is spotted the hunter turns up the game, flicking one or two quills more aggressively and sporadically in order to simulate an injured, vulnerable prey item and lure the would-be predator in for the kill, only to dart its head into the water at the exact moment it approaches and turn the tables. Though the feathered lures help the blix to find food they are not necessary for its survival and periodically molt throughout the year, though usually not all at once.

Though they appear slow and sedentary, blixes are as capable of rapid movement as any other swiftlet and their metabolisms are not particularly different. If food is scarce in one pond, they will migrate to another either through the canopy or if necessary, by dropping into the water and swimming - their reduced wings, though now useless for flight, are still strong and are well-suited as paddles, leaving them agile in the water. If pressed by an aerial predator, in fact, a blix's most likely response is to drop like a stone into a pool and submerge, swimming underwater to safety in the reeds a ways down the bank.

Blixes are relatively unique among swiftlets in being brood parasites, even more so for they do not utilize close relatives but in fact true birds, many of which exhibit a similar degree of parental care to their chicks as the swiftlets have convergently evolved to. The ovulation of females is timed closely with that of several species of large rails which build large nests on the ground and proactively care for their chicks, providing food for the first few weeks and allowing their offspring to rest upon their backs both on the water and upon land. Timing her cycle with that of the mother rail, the blix deposits her single egg into two or three different nests and retreats, her work done. The egg is identical in size and shape to that of the rail and attracts no suspicion, but will normally hatch two to three days before its nest-mates. This is so that even though the young swiftlet is quite distinct in morphology from the rail chicks that will hatch after, its "parents" firmly imprint on it before their own young hatch. This ensures that even later on when it proves to be quite dissimilar and walks upon the wrong pair of limbs, it will already have been accepted by its parents and will not be abandoned (as if to try and hide its obvious biological differences to the best of its ability, the blix's natal plumage does mirror that of its hosts' true babies exactly.) For about a week the blix is fed and nurtured in its nest, as one by one its foster siblings hatch alongside it and begin to explore two to three days after hatching, by which point the young swiftlet is also developed enough to leave the nest for the first time. The blix causes no harm to the rail's rightful chicks but grows more rapidly and in lean seasons may take the share of food away from its weakest kin, causing some of the rail chicks to starve. In a bountiful year, however, the adolescent blix will stay with the rail family for two months, running close behind the parents or clinging to their feathers, before gradually moving out on its own. The rails are then left to care for only their own offspring, who are slower to gain their independence, exclusively for another six weeks or so. Like other swiftlets, the blix continues to grow for some time after it leaves its parents care, feeding itself initially along the shore much like its rail parents before adopting the arboreal tendencies of the adult once its neck is sufficiently long enough. Initially banded brown with tan, they gradually develop a more solid adult color towards maturity as they become increasingly arboreal.
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Constrict0r12's avatar
Very speculative, and very cool!