Hummingbird Harpy
Size: 5"
Threat: Minimal
Habitat: Widespread
These are the smallest of the harpies in Felarya, and most likely on any plane. They possess the wings of a hummingbird, which allow them to hover in midair, beating their wings at about eighty times a second for lift. They can fly backwards as well, which grants them a lot of maneuverability. Although they can zip around to escape danger, their wings give off a telltale humming noise, which might alert them to predators.
Much of their diet consists of starkala bugs and the nectar of flowers, which they lap up with their very long tongues. They’ll eat other foods as well, as nectar is a poor source of nutrition, but they enjoy the taste more. They have a very high metabolism rate, and most of their efforts go to finding food to fuel their buzzing wings.
Because of their minuscule size, hummingbird harpies are typically very shy, hiding whenever they aren’t flying. But when it comes time to mate, they will seek out any member of the tiny races- neeras, tom thumbs or mausus, and then use their agility to cut them off from escape, then use their long, sinuous tongues to take away their will to escape, since they are rather fragile and are very lightweight, and couldn't hope to hold even a smaller tiny by force.
Coincidentally, they can be easily mistaken with small fairies with their zipping flight, as well as their buzzing wings, but this illusion lasts only a split-second. Like tinies, hummingbird harpies tend to wind up as prey for many other species, but they are very adept at escape, making complex maneuvers to evade airworthy predators.
Language among hummingbird harpies is, like the beating of their wings, very, very fast. Their language seems to consist of hurried insults, along with jerky movements, and then a sudden departure. One can only assume that they reach the ends of their arguments many times faster than other harpies, as their time is precious and finding food takes precedence over socializing.
Hummingbird harpies recognize their race as Trochili, although one would think that with all the different color variations among them, that they weren’t the same species. Something else that makes them different from other harpies is that instead of the offspring having all the qualities of the mother, some of the father’s genes that determine hair color and such will go toward the coloration of the feathers and eye color in Trochili offspring. As such, they can be somewhat picky about mates, more so than their larger cousins.
While they usually don’t congregate for any length of time, they will gather in certain areas rich in food, and definitely in areas where potential mates are abundant. Although this can mean that being in an area looking for tinies can put them in the same area as nekos looking for tinies as well… And nekos love hummingbird harpies, considering them a hard-to-catch delicacy.
Subject: Hummingbird Harpies 
Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:52 pm
