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Mistral Falcon

Name: Mistral Falcon

Category: Pets, Useful

Type: Avians

Size: Small

Region: Forest, Grassland, Marshland

Rarity: Uncommon; Rare pets

Lifespan: 8–10 years

Appearance

Mistral falcons look very similar to a gyrfalcon, and it is assumed that they are directly related. However, where gyrfalcons are white with dark grey or near-black stripes and spots, these spots on the mistral are silver and they have no stripes.

The dispersal of these silver spots along the back is quite sparse, and the half-collar at the nape is also silver along with the talons and beak. The eyes are black.

Mistrals are also smaller than their gyrfalcon cousins, coming between 9 and 12 inches in body length with a wing span of 25 to 28 inches.

Behaviour

They're not an overly aggressive bird, but are intelligent if not quite cunning, and thus easily trained once they've been "broken". It's important to get them when they're still young, however, as the older they are the more likely it is that they've mated - and mated mistrals are too loyal to be broken.

Once trained, they are an ideal messenger bird, being able to memorise a couple of different routes indicated by a series of tongue clicks. They are also good hunters for small prey, having excellent long-distance vision, and can take down anything from an imp to a hare.

Diet: They normally eat mice or variants thereof, or other small rodents and birds. They prefer to swoop in and scoop prey off the ground but their wind manipulation makes air-bound prey just as easy.

Habitat: They require an area of tall grass where they can hide their nest and pluck materials for its building, but beyond that they have very few requirements. They will not often be found in the mountains, however, or anywhere that turbulence makes flying difficult, as even with their air manipulation they struggle to stay aloft in those conditions.

Breeding: Mistrals usually mate at a young age and then live together in a ground-level nest made of grass and twigs. Whilever there are eggs to be tended, the male will stay at home while the female hunts, but the rest of the time both are most often found in the skies with their eyes on the ground.

Special Information

Strengths/Abilities:

• Mistral falcons can manipulate the air using a combination of powerful wing flaps and elemental control to create sudden bursts of wind that can knock their prey out of the air, or that can buffet them and disorient them long enough for the falcon to swoop in for the kill.

Weaknesses:

• Despite their ability to manipulate air, mistrals find the winds above certain altitudes, particularly in the mountains, too severe to fly in.

Uses:

• Mistrals can be trained by falconers to hunt small creatures, or as messengers that can evade attacks that other non-predatory birds of its size couldn't.
  • If fully tamed, these falcons can be released from their tether and allowed to fly free until called by a shrill whistle, but the continued use of falconry gloves is still recommended as their talons can rip into flesh very easily.

Origin:

Other Info:

Creator: Emma