Double Aught River Hawk

Very little has been observed of the double aught hawk in action. Across the forests of the Pacific Northwest, there have been some local debates about the effects of inexpert shotgun hunting on local wildlife populations; the deaths of lynxes, deer, and occasionally bears are a bit higher than they ought to be given the prevalence of poachers in the region. The local ecologists could swear they were coming across more and more carcasses, taken down by some sort of buckshot and then heavily scavenged.
Local wildlife or cryptid groups don't go looking for an explanation when a perfectly reasonable one already exists. In this case, they should have. The Havarian River Hawk is a highly social hawk species that nests underground, far too near to leaky magical artifacts. The resulting hawks are almost entirely rust red, extremely agile, and hunt animals much larger than them. Magical researchers have yet to confirm it, but rumor says the hawks can pass through one another, allowing them to fly in a much tighter pattern, especially when they hunt. One researcher compared them to a pack of wolves, slamming into a harried animal in waves as it bleeds to death. Another compared the tactic to a series of shotgun blasts, earning the hawks the 'double aught' moniker.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Double aught hawks are a medium size for a hawk, around two feet in length, and have narrow wings designed for rapid turns and dives. Their claws and beaks are strengthened somewhat, to compensate for their higher impact speeds, but otherwise resemble most hawks of their size. Their feathers are almost entirely rust red, save for a patch of white that covers the top of their head and narrows into a stripe along the center of their backs. Their bodies are para-corporeal; all of a hawk will be solid to the world around it, but when interacting with other hawks in their flock, the white stripe marks the solid areas of their body while the rest is incorporeal.

Genetics and Reproduction

Double aught hawks invest more in their chicks than most birds, mainly because they don't have many eggs. All female hawks can technically lay eggs as part of the group, but the flock will keep only one or two nests alive, and other eggs are consumed to keep the pack going through the difficult work of raising chicks. Two to seven hawks keep watch over chicks until they can fly, so it's important to bring back more food (and infertile eggs) to keep the nest going. This strategy, of keeping only a few chicks alive at once, has served flocks well enough to keep them going.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Double aught hawks are a highly social hawk species. Groups of 10-15 adult hawks fly, hunt, and nest together. Some researchers believe that the groups of adults are a family group traveling together, much like lions or wolves staying together as a pack; other researchers believe the hawks split up after they fledge and develop mixed flocks.
Because of their nesting habits (see above), considerable debate has been raised as to whether hawk flocks could be considered eusocial. The consensus as of 2001 is that they are not, because the parents of the surviving egg will change from year to year, but conversations are ongoing.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Double aught hawks don't migrate far from their nesting grounds in the Cascade Mountain Range. Early research suggested that they might be related to Harris's hawks, another social hawk species that lives much further south, but further studies haven't shown any signs of magic in Harris's hawk populations. Genetic research in the future might provide evidence that the two are linked (and that the magical properties of the double aught hawks are highly tied to their geographic location) but taking samples has proven difficult.

Scientific Name

Buteo omadamavri

Geographic Distribution

• Eindothlon