Some Bird Philosophy

The field before me is beautiful. A vast expanse of green and lush grass, with scatterings of blue flowers amongst it.

After my encounter with the strange dinosaur, Pokie, by the Grand Arch. I’m rushing to get to my home so I can tell Lilac about what I’ve seen. I’m hoping that her experience from being from somewhere else on this island will tell me about where to find the human buildings that are connected with the appearance of Oviraptors and their spreading of invasive plants.

I sniff the air and, dang it, another Oviraptor. As long as this one hasn’t talked to Pokie since I tackled him to the ground, I should be fine.

As long as I actually use what Lilac calls “social skills.”

I follow the scent, slinking through the tall grass. I promise myself to do this peacefully, and not violently. I smile, thinking about how happy Lilac will be about this.

Finally, I can see the Ovirapor.

He has a striped crest of black and white feathers atop his head. It hides his crest that has the same pattern and coloring. The rest of his body is light and slightly darker shades of brown and tan.

He’s also within a circle of birds. Dozens and dozens of finches are around him, and he seems to be… Feeding them? He’s throwing seeds to them, that’s for sure.

He turns around, and notices me.

“Oh, hi there! Would you like to partake in feeding the birds? These are a variety not present where I’m from, you see, and they do seem to quite like when I toss these seeds to them!”

He seems rather talkative, and definitely not scared of me.

“Um, sure?”

Maybe I can get more information, or at least make it so an entire species doesn’t hate me.

I walk over to the pile of seeds he’s gathered. Mostly grains, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and many others. This, plus the seed spreading by Pokie, tells me a lot.

They must love to eat seeds!

I pick up some of the seeds awkwardly. The claws of the Oviraptors seem more dexterous, with the way they nimbly clutch the seeds. I then chuck the seeds at the birds.

The pinches jump back, and seem to chirp angrily. They’re not scared. I’m far away enough that even if I wanted to eat them, they could fly away.

The Oviraptor chuckles.

“You have to throw it towards them, not at them. Here. Watch.”

He throws some more seeds. Not at their heads, but in front of them. The finches then eagerly peck at the seeds and gobble them up.  They’re enjoying being given all this free food, instead of having to forage for it.

I nod, and pick up some more seeds. A clump of sunseeds. A lot fall out of my claws, but I chuck some at the ground in front of the finches. They eat them in the same way that they did when the Oviraptor did it. I tilt my head towards him.

“What’s your name, anyways?”

He stops looking at the birds, and looks at me.

“Tiainen. What’s yours, strange Cryo?”

My eyes narrow at being called “strange,” but I decide not to push it. I guess I’m strange for not trying to eat Tiainen and instead  joining him in feeding the birds. I answer his question.

“Duststorm. My name is Duststorm.”

I think. He seems to trust me now, so I might as well ask some questions.

“Why do you feed the birds? Couldn’t you eat them yourself, or just not collect them at all?”

He looks at me like I’m stupid for asking that question.

“It’s fun, so why not?”

I tilt my head. He can tell I’m confused.

“I just like birds. Don’t you?”

He can tell I’m still confused, and sighs.

“Birds are interesting creatures. They don’t seem to be as intelligent as us dinosaurs, and yet they’re similar. Look at me, for example.”

Tiainen spreads his plumage, his wings and feathered tail.

“Especially since I’m an Oviraptor, birds look a lot like me. We both have wings, despite them not having claws also. They have feathered tails, even if they don’t have ones as long as mine.”

He taps his beak.

“We even both have beaks!”

He chuckles lightly.

“Think about how even you have similarities to birds. You don’t have wings, but you have feathers on your back. You’re bipedal, and look at your footprints!”

I look at my footprints. I look at the footprints of the still chirping and seed-eating birds. 

Three toes in the front, and a bit of the back claw. Just like me and Tiainen. Like all dinosaurs, or at least all of the bipedal ones.

“So… You like birds because they’re like us?”

He nods.

“Makes you think, doesn’t it? Maybe birds are  a type of dinosaur, but a less developed group. Less advanced.”

He tilts his head at the finches, which are starting to leave.

“That, and the way they hop around is goofy.”

The sun starts setting.

“That’s my cue to leave.”

He bows his head.

“Thank you for listening to my rambling, Duststorm. Perhaps we’ll meet again?”

I think, and then respond.

“Perhaps. If you ever visit the scrubland, you might see me.”

His head perks up.

“Perhaps I will, perhaps I will…”

He then walks into the tall grass, talking to himself about birds.

I snort in amusement, before continuing my journey home.