What kind of birds would you ride on?

Faide · Oct 5, 2009

Not sure where I should post this, but since I'm going for a fantasy story I post it here.

You see, I had this brilliant idea for my NaNo - a world where people (small ones, obviously) ride on ducks. And swans too, I figured out later.

I have not yet decided which race these guys belong to, but I've thought a lot about the ducks. I have more than sixty of them at home, muscovy ducks, but they don't fly very much.

I also figured out how the saddle would be made to fit the duck and secure the rider (hooray for being an artist and owning a horse!), but now I'm not really sure if the ducks (and swans) are the right birds, after all.

Before you ask, they'll be used by a special order of knights, and I guess for warfare as well. They'll also need a lot of stamina, as they make a certain long and hard journey each year. A bird of prey might be a good choice for war, but... I need something between the size of a duck, let's say a mallard, and a swan. Preferably neither smaller nor bigger.

Yeah, so the question is - what kind of bird would you use as a mount?

Kitty Pryde · Oct 5, 2009

Terry Pratchett has gnomes and pictsies who ride on birds, I believe. I forget what kind. I would ride on a turkey vulture, I think, because they are awesome.

YAwriter72 · Oct 5, 2009

Canadian Geese. They are hardy, bigger than a duck and can be mean!

geardrops · Oct 5, 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kite_(bird)

maxmordon · Oct 5, 2009

Ostriches, since I think it wouldn't be too far out the idea that men domesticated a bunch of them thousand of years ago through breeding.

Sarpedon · Oct 5, 2009

the gnomes in discworld rode pigeons or vultures.

If I were a tiny man, I'd consider a pigeon too, they wouldn't eat me, and are dumb enough not to have their own ideas.

Maybe a parrot or a grouse. or a seagull., but that one might eat me. Maybe a pheasant? I recall a book (not Pratchett) where gnomes rode pheasants. Chickens would be too dangerous. Most people don't know that they eat small animals. One of my chicken raising friends said he once saw his rooster grab a sparrow in flight.

TheIT · Oct 5, 2009

Owls for night flight.

A predatory bird might be good, but it would have to be taught not to attack its rider. Pratchett's The Wee Free Men describes how the pictsies train their riding birds. I think they used seagulls.

Irishgirl · Oct 5, 2009

A red tail hawk is beautiful, and their plumage is very striking, also they fit the size you need.
I defiantly agree with Kitty Pryde's post, Turkey vultures ARE awesome, and they ride the thermals like no other bird out there. You could do so much just with the conservation of energy factor (less feeding between flights).
Every time I think of a rider on a duck, I can only imagine a duck butt in the air with a little man flailing around under water, hopelessly strapped in the saddle.
How about a night patrol on owls?
Good Luck!

Faide · Oct 5, 2009

Wow, many responses very fast o.o Thank you, guys, you're awesome!

Kitty Pryde said:
Terry Pratchett has gnomes and pictsies who ride on birds, I believe. I forget what kind. I would ride on a turkey vulture, I think, because they are awesome.

Ah, yeah, they're pretty awesome, but it's not the right climate for them in my story. Otherwise... Maybe in another story :> I'd almost forgotten turkey vultures.

YAwriter72: Hm, good idea. I'll certainly think about it.

dempsey: Heck, yeah, kites are very cool! Another bird to add on my list.

maxmordon: Could've worked, but ostriches are too big and can't fly, so... Well, thanks for the suggestion, and what I can't use now will probably work for another story.

Sarpedon: I think one had a egret or something like it, one had a raven-thingie, and another had a buzzard as well, if I'm not entirely mistaken.

Hm, pigeons... Yeah. And pheasants are certainly an interesting idea. And gulls too. Heh, I know chicken can be dangerous. I have one hell of a big, one-eyed, mean rooster. And to think that the grew up in my room as well~

TheIT: Owls, of course. Yep, that could be an idea. Hm, I think they used buzzards. I don't remember, though.

IrishGirl: Ah, red-tails... My very favourite bird, next to the Harris hawk. Yeah, might work. Heh, well. When you say that the whole idea starts to look ridicolous in my head too xP Owls, yeah, I think I might go for owls for night-patrols.

Thanks again for all the wonderful suggestions, guys!

A guy at the NaNo boards suggested corvidaes for their intelligence, by the way.

geardrops · Oct 5, 2009

Faide said:
A guy at the NaNo boards suggested corvidaes for their intelligence, by the way.

Intelligent, but crafty, and they like to steal shiny things

So there's the potential for behavioural problems (which could add some fun spice to the story).

Wait until Fenika can chime in. She knows birds.

Fenika · Oct 5, 2009

Moas!

They come in compact and mac truck varieties.

You'd have to keep them from going extinct 500yo though

Straka · Oct 5, 2009

Don't for get about these guys:

Who doesn't want to be a chocobo knight?

Fenika · Oct 5, 2009

Straka said:
Don't for get about these guys:

Square clearly took a moa and gave it a kewler name and slicker look

MattW · Oct 5, 2009

I just read the Red Wolf Conspiracy, and the little people there don't ride birds, but they do have suits that allow them to appear and fly like swallows.

May be too small for what you're doing.

2Wheels · Oct 5, 2009

I suggest that the law enforcement officers ride magpies

TheIT · Oct 5, 2009

In Pratchett's Discworld, the Death of Rats (also known as the Grim Squeaker) rides Quoth, the raven.

Canotila · Oct 5, 2009

Sarpedon said:
the gnomes in discworld rode pigeons or vultures.

If I were a tiny man, I'd consider a pigeon too, they wouldn't eat me, and are dumb enough not to have their own ideas.

Maybe a parrot or a grouse. or a seagull., but that one might eat me. Maybe a pheasant? I recall a book (not Pratchett) where gnomes rode pheasants. Chickens would be too dangerous. Most people don't know that they eat small animals. One of my chicken raising friends said he once saw his rooster grab a sparrow in flight.

Have you ever seen a mouse in the middle of a chicken pen? *shudders* It only lasts for a split second. After witnessing that I am so glad chickens are smaller than humans.

Hummingbirds would rock as mounts. Can you imagine zooming around that fast, and how furious/aggressive they can be?

Swans would make an awesome fancy battle mount for a knight. They are crazy strong and have their elegant looks at the same time. Getting punched by a swan sucks.

Between and mallard and a swan....how fancy do you want them? Impeyan pheasants are incredible, rainbow metallic beings, and are very nice and biddable. As biddable as pheasants come anyhow. I think any of the pheasants, red goldens, lady amherst, etc. would be awesome. Fast runners, and fast fliers, the males have enough natural aggression you could train them for battle.

MGraybosch · Oct 5, 2009

Faide said:
Yeah, so the question is - what kind of bird would you use as a mount?

I'd use Canada geese, and write in a way for the riders to make their mounts defecate in mid-air on command. That way, a formation of goose-riders could carpet-bomb an opposing army with fecal munitions.

Fenika · Oct 5, 2009

Fenika said:
Square clearly took a moa and gave it a kewler name and slicker look

Oh, and wings. Don't forget the wings, lol.

geardrops · Oct 5, 2009

Honestly I thought chocobos were always based on these guys

ps that's a chicken (so says the internet)

Ziljon · Oct 5, 2009

I'm always amazed by pelicans whenever I see them skimming over the ocean. I remember once driving over a causeway in Florida and watching a pelican fly alongside (I wasn't at the wheel) at almost 60 mph!

bettielee · Oct 5, 2009

so sayeth the internet, so sayeth the world....

I say Hyacinth macaws. Why? Because they are awesome.

AnnikaHTDC · Oct 6, 2009

I think crows would be good. They may be crafty, but I imagine they would be loyal to their riders.

Dommo · Oct 6, 2009

I figure something like a parrot or a raven. Ideally a bird that has problem solving intelligence and the ability to learn and remember.

A parrot would be good in a region that had a lot of plant type stuff to eat, however I think a raven is probably the more crafty and would be better suited to surviving in harsher environments due to the more flexible diet they can partake in.

White-Tean · Oct 7, 2009

Well a Moa or Madagascar Elephant Bird one of the other (mostly extinct) megafauna bird species would the obvious choice, but seriously if I could go with any bird it would have to be the extinct Tyrannosaurus Rex. I just couldn't see myself riding on a flight bird - I'm a horse person, I like my mount grounded.

A cassowary would also be cool if it weren't for the killer instinct. I think a Tyrannosauridae could be convinced that I wasn't enough of a meal, but cassowary's are more human sized, so it would probably still see me as a threat and gut me.

I love them so, the vicious little man-killers.

If I were a very tiny individual, I'd probably want to ride a Fairy Penguin, with some itty-bitty scuba gear. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairy_penguin.jpg

What kind of birds would you ride on?

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