J. Ingenipuell[WIP]
"Animalia Chordata Aves Passeriforme Corvidae Corvus Jenkill Ingenipuell" Closest living relative species: C. Benneti
Kenku Evolution The eastern Jenki was a small bird about the size of a red-footed falcon, with feathers that changed colour in varying lights and angles. Originally hunted by humans and elves for the beauty of the feathers, the Eastern Jenki began to spread quite rapidly as breeding picked up to counter hunting strategies. Over time, the more smaller eastern Jenki were hunted for their more crisp feathers, resulting in an overall increase in average size. The hunting of the Jenki across Terminos became seen as more of a sport, as the population never suffered any obvious issues from these practices. Newer hunters would target the slower Jenki for ease, while more experienced hunters would target the smaller ones thinking they were faster. It is unknown how long it took, but eventually Jenki hunters renamed the creature they were hunting to the Jenkara; a typically black feathered bird about half the height of an adult human and with considerable intellect and speed. Jenkara were known to watch hunting practices and develop countermeasures. Many historians believe one of the main tactics was to avoid flight, keeping to the ground and cover to prevent being noticed. Jenkara were also known to make and use tools, much in the way modern corvids do. Driven by their main predators, Jenkara populations are thought to have moved to urban centers, as shows of magical force in such areas were automatically punished, greatly limiting the hunting methods available and thus the weapons that needed to be watched. Some scholars believe there was one, or perhaps a couple more, late Jenkara hatchlings which had a mutation that deactivated the genes that developed wings and instead returned the saurian arms of their far ancestors. These Jenkara would have been extremely versatile, able to manipulate tools and devices in human and elven settlements far better than their peers, leading to a perceived superiority of them as mates. Possession of arms instead of the now (perceived) useless wings, spread remarkably fast through the population of following generations. In these generations, a greater manual dexterity allowed better use of and interaction with tools, as well as gave the developing mind more ways to interact with its environment. These new creatures, called Jengu as slang by those who still felt them to be only animals, and Kenku by those who do not, began to organise into more structured groups in hidden urban areas. Early Kenku were well known to learn the languages and schedules of the races around them, who now considered them a pest. The modern Kenku do not typically see a problem with taking what they require to live; a practice that has landed them the label of "Race of thieves"
The Kenku's body External Anatomy Kenku stand 5'3" on average, this is in part due to their hips being unable to straighten the trunk any further than 46.368°. Were such a straightening possible, the typical kenku would be around 6'5" instead. A Kenku's ears are as large as its eyes. Situated slightly behind and below the eye, the ears are covered by feathers that obscure it visibly but do not interfere with the ability to hear. These ear covering feathers protect the ear and cut down on wind sounds made as the Kenku moves. Kenku beaks are similar to those of other birds. Though depending on breeding, they may be of varying lengths and colours. This large variation is part of what decreases the risk of problems from Kenku inbreeding. They also have a sharp projection along the upper mandible, with a corresponding notch on the lower mandible. They use this "tooth" to rip into meats, but it has also been seen that they can use these to cut ropes. Unlike many other birds Kenku are not sexually dimorphic in beak appearance. The colouration of a Kenku's head feathers varies immensely along family lines, and is often reminiscent of known bird species. Even among family members, facial feather colours are often unique. This means that individual kenku can be readily identified by those familiar with their facial markings. A Kenku's leg has a large amount of musculature that enables fast movement and strong kicks. The lower portion that most people believe is part of the leg, is actually part of the foot. The heel is easily located as the point where the feathers end and the leg is covered in scales on the upper(front) side and leather on the under(back) side. Kenku are digitigrades, meaning they walk on their toes. They have four toes; three forward and one backward, each capped with a claw. Kenku have as more control over their individual toes than humans do over individual fingers. At first glance, the arms of an older kenku may appear like wings at first glance. A Kenku's arms are fully muscled, ending in a hand with four digits(three forefingers and one rear-finger which faces the opposite direction.) A Kenku's arms bear a single row of feathers which grow continually during their life. Those who have seen both agree that Kenku arms are reminiscent of those of Velociraptors. Kenku have a leathery skin. Golden brown around where the feathers connect, and a dark brown elsewhere. The kenku skin is thin and weak, less secure than human skin and far easier to cut. Feathers may redirect a blow, but any blade of even mild sharpness can easily split the skin. There are two basic types of feather: vaned feathers which cover the exterior of the body, and down feathers which are underneath the vaned feathers. The pennaceous feathers are vaned feathers. Also called contour feathers, pennaceous feathers arise from tracts and cover the entire body. A third rarer type of feather, the filoplume, is hair-like and grows along the fluffy down feathers. Filoplumes arise exposed beyond the contour feathers on the neck. A typical vaned feather features a main shaft, called the rachis. Fused to the rachis are a series of branches, or barbs; the barbs themselves are also branched and form the barbules. These barbules have minute hooks called barbicels for cross-attachment. Down feathers are fluffy because they lack barbicels, so the barbules float free of each other, allowing the down to trap air and provide excellent thermal insulation. At the base of the feather, the rachis expands to form the hollow tubular calamus (or quill) which inserts into a follicle in the skin. The basal part of the calamus is without vanes. This part is embedded within the skin follicle and has an opening at the base (proximal umbilicus) and a small opening on the side (distal umbilicus). Hatchling kenku have a special kind of natal down feathers which are pushed out when the normal feathers emerge.
Internal Anatomy Skeleton Kenku skeletons are numerous though rarely studied. However, all scholars who had a chance to agree that kenku skeletons comprise almost 90 bones, as compared to the over 200 bones of the human skeleton. Kenku have pneumatic bones, which are exceptionally light but surprisingly durable. Each bone is semi hollow, containing membranes that call to the mind of an observer a collection of bubbles. The accompanying diagram shows a kenku skeleton in detail. The bones of the skull are generally fused providing protection to the brain while being of light weight. A light, toothless beak is covered in thick skin. One important vestige of the Kenku's ancestral relationship to reptiles is the jaw joint articulation between the quadrate and articular bones, which is common in birds. Note the large orbits, as sight is an important sensory mechanism for birds. Within the orbit is the sclerotic ring, which helps to support the eyeball. In the posterior part of the skull is a single occipital condyle, which articulates with the first cervical vertebrae. Reptiles likewise have a single occipital condyle, while mammals have four. As the Kenku skull is 1/6th of its height, it allows for a larger brain than most other birds although they tend to be somewhat top heavy. The necks of birds are very important for body maintenance and eyesight. Modification for flight has rendered avian forelimbs almost useless for any task other than flight. To make up for this lack of forelimb dexterity, the beak is used for many tasks such as preening feathers. To access hard-to-reach feathers on the back and tail birds require a flexible neck. Furthermore, as birds have immobile eyes, head movement and flexibility is required to focus on objects at various distances. Heterocoelous (saddle shaped) vertebrae in the cervical region facilitate the extreme neck mobility required to carry out these tasks. Strangely, despite the development of kenku arms, the neck retains much of this functionality, allowing kenku to maintain their feathers while continuing to survey the area easily(there are reports of Kenku using these longer necks to peer around corners easier. By association; the thickness of the kenku neck allows for a larger and more complex Syrinx, giving the Kenku their trademark ability to mimic almost any noise. The sternum is the highly modified breastbone. In flying and swimming birds the keel or carina is enlarged for flight muscle attachment (called a carinate sternum). Unlike other flightless birds, particularly Ostriches, Kenku retain this keel. The keel in Kenku is far smaller in relation to body size than any bird that possesses it. The Kenku keel is the anchor for the enlarged pectoral muscles, which assists in swinging weapons and in climbing and various other tasks that require upper body strength. The pectoral girdle is made up of the sternum, clavicle, coracoid and scapula. The clavicles come together to form the furcula, or “wishbone”. The furcula provides a flexible attachment site for the breast muscles and along with the coracoids act as struts that resist pressure created by the arm strong during any movement such as throwing or swinging a weapon or vaulting. Pectoral muscles running from the sternum to the relatively short and stiff humerus swing back and forth the arm. The tendon of the back-swing supracoracoideus muscle runs through the trioseal canal found on the dorsal end of the coracoid, where the coracoid, scapula and clavicles meet. This setup has been adapted very efficiently from the flight muscle system typically used by birds. Again, there is an extensive fusion of bones of the pelvic region to provide stiff support for the legs in order to deal with the stress of kick-off and landing. The three pelvic bones, the ilium, ischium and pubis are fused to form the innominate bone, as inherited from its more aerial ancestors. Fused dorsally to the innominate bone is the synsacrum to make one complete unit of bone. The synsacrum is a fusion of the sacral (pelvic) and 6 caudal (tail) vertebrae. At the end of the spinal column is the pygostyle, a fusion of the final few caudal vertebrae. The pygostyle supports the tail feathers and musculature. The upper leg is composed of a fairly standard femur, but the lower leg and foot are highly modified by fusion. Distal to the femur is an extremely reduced fibula. Next to this is the tibiotarsus, a fusion of the tibia (a lower leg bone) and some tarsals (foot bones). Of course, between the femur and the fibula and tibiotarsus is the knee, whose location in birds is often confused. Distal to the tibiotarsus and fibula is the tarsometatarsus, an extended fusion of the foot bones. This lengthening adds extra leverage for running, landing and kick-off. Note that birds walk on their toes (as opposed to foot and toes, as seen in humans) and are thus digitigrades. The kenku style of running involves bounding from one leg to another quite quickly. With no adaptation of bones or muscles, the Kenku use the landing mechanisms developed by other birds, for faster running than many other bipeds of their size.
Internal Organs Eyes Kenku eyes are far more advanced than human eyes. Autopsy's of the Kenku eye reveals they have four kinds of light sensitive receptors, whereas humans have only three. This additional light receptor gives Kenku the ability to see the ultraviolet spectrum of light and increasing their night-vision, as is common for birds. Brain The Kenku brain is a scaled up version of the avian brain due to their rapid increase in size. As such, portions of the kenku brain are larger than those in humans, and have different expanded functions. Medulla- Part of the brainstem; includes neurons that help control heart rate, respiration, & blood pressure in humans. The increased size in kenku allows the Medulla to measure and regulate certain bodily status' such as internal temperature, vitamin and mineral balances, immune system. It also improves reflexes, by responding to stimulae or performing programmed suites of tasks without the interferance of the main or focus brains. This means that the Kenku can plan an action, decide to execute and not require concious thought to continue, only to change actions. Olfactory lobe- While in most birds, the Olfactory lobe is situated at the front of the brain. In Kenku, this has developed into part of the Cerebral hemispheres. Interpretation of scent information has instead been taken over by the Optic Lobe. Optic Lobe- Situated at the back and on either side of the brain, the Kenku's Optic lobe processes both visual and olfactory information. A bird's Optic Lobe is already considerable in size even compared to the human optic nerve, so the increased size of the Kenku's optic lobe must be of use for other things. In kenku, the Optic lobe also processes the implications of the visual and olfactory information rather than requiring the rest of the brain to do so. The size and complexity of the Optic lobe allows Kenku to perform a kind of nested subitization rather than counting. For this reason, kenku are easily able to near instantly know how many of whatever it is they would be counting. This knowledge is faster the closer the actual number is to a power of 4. The Optic lobe also increases the Kenku's depth perception without the need of closer eyes. Some researchers, after short periods of anatomical polymorphology, have attempted to describe this effect as having a mental model of the surrounding area, including parts that are no longer in direct view. Cerebellum- The Kenku Cerebellum is about 80% larger than that in humans. The kenku body isn't much larger than humans, and most of the motor control that birds would use for flying is instead utilized for the kenku rapidly readjusting their path during a run. Much of the expanded Cerebellum is part of what is called the "Focus Brain", a collection of parts of the kenku brain that is considered 'free writing space' where heavy adjustments are made during a Kenku's maturation that allows their brain to be far better at particular tasks than they otherwise would be. The Focus Brain includes small and otherwise unused portions of the optic lobe and medulla, and large partitions of the Cerebellum and considerably large cerebrum. Syrinx The Syrinx is the kenku equivalent of the mammalian vocal chords. Unlike most of its other features, a Kenku's Syrinx is more like that of a lyrebird than that of a corvid. No-one is certain why this is. Respiration The kenku respiratory system delivers oxygen from the air to the tissues and also removes carbon dioxide. In addition, the respiratory system plays an important role in thermoregulation (maintaining normal body temperature). The avian respiratory system is different from that of other vertebrates, with birds having relatively small lungs plus nine air sacs that play an important role in respiration (but are not directly involved in the exchange of gases). The air sacs permit a unidirectional flow of air through the lungs. Unidirectional flow means that air moving through kenku lungs is largely 'fresh' air & has a higher oxygen content. In contrast, air flow is 'bidirectional' in mammals, moving back and forth into and out of the lungs. As a result, air coming into a mammal's lungs is mixed with 'old' air (air that has been in the lungs for a while) & this 'mixed air' has less oxygen. So, in kenku lungs, more oxygen is available to diffuse into the blood. Air in the air sacs absorb heat from the muscles and organs in a kenku's body, distributing this heat during an exhale. Due to this, kenku do not sweat or pant, though they do have the chance to overheat in air temperatures high enough that no heat is removed from the body.
Digestion Beak/Mouth As with most birds, a kenku obtains feed by using its beak. Food picked up by the beak enters the mouth. kenku do not have teeth, so they cannot chew their food. However, the mouth contains glands that secrete saliva, which wets the feed to make it easier to swallow. Also, the saliva contains enzymes, such as amylase, that start the digestion process. The kenku uses its tongue to push the feed to the back of the mouth to be swallowed. Oesophagus The oesophagus is a flexible tube that connects the mouth with the rest of the digestive tract. It carries food from the mouth to the crop and from the crop to the proventriculus. Crop The crop is an out-pocketing of the oesophagus and is located just outside the body cavity in the neck region. Swallowed feed and water are stored in the crop until they are passed to the rest of the digestive tract. When the crop is empty or nearly empty, it sends hunger signals to the brain so that the kenku will eat more. Although the digestive enzymes secreted in the mouth began the digestion process, very little digestion takes place in the crop—it is simply a temporary storage pouch. The crop evolved for birds that are typically hunted by other animals but need to move to the open to find feed. These birds can consume relatively large amounts of food quickly and then move to a more secure location to digest that food. Occasionally, the crop becomes impacted, or backed up. This problem—called crop impaction, crop binding, or pendulous crop—can occur when a kenku goes a long time without feed and then eats too much too quickly when feed is available again. Crop impaction also can occur when a kenku free-ranges on a pasture of tough, fibrous vegetation or eats long pieces of string. With crop impaction, even if a kenku continues to eat, the feed cannot pass the impacted crop. The swollen crop also can block the windpipe, causing the kenku to suffocate. Proventriculus The oesophagus continues past the crop, connecting the crop to the proventriculus. The proventriculus (also known as the true stomach) is the glandular stomach where digestion primarily begins. Hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes, such as pepsin, are added to the feed here and begin to break it down more significantly than the enzymes secreted by the salivary glands. At this point, however, the food has not yet been ground—this organ is called the proventriculus because its location in the digestive tract is before the ventriculus, where food is ground. Ventriculus (Gizzard) The ventriculus, or gizzard, is a part of the digestive tract of birds, reptiles, earthworms, and fish. Often referred to as the mechanical stomach, the gizzard is made up of two sets of strong muscles that act as the bird's teeth and has a thick lining that protects those muscles. Consumed feed and the digestive juices from the salivary glands and proventriculus pass into the gizzard for grinding, mixing, and mashing. Kenku typically eat small stones. The acidic environment in the proventriculus softens the stones, and then the strong muscles of the gizzard grind them into tiny pieces. The stones remain in the gizzard until they are ground into pieces small enough to pass to the rest of the digestive tract. Grit, a commercial product made up of small stones, can be used as a supplement to kenku feed. kenku fed only commercially prepared feed do not need grit. kenku that eat whole grains or kenku kept on pasture that do not consume enough pebbles with the forage typically require a supplementation of grit. Grit should not be confused with limestone or oystershell, which are given to laying hens as sources of calcium for their eggs' shells. When a kenku eats a small, sharp object, such as a tack or staple, the object is likely to get stuck in the gizzard. Because of the strong grinding motion of the gizzard's muscles, such sharp objects can put holes in the gizzard wall. kenku with damaged gizzards grow thin and eventually die. Preventing this situation is a good reason to keep a poultry house free of nails, glass shards, bits of wire, and so on. Small Intestine The small intestine is made up of the duodenum (also referred to as the duodenal loop) and the lower small intestine. The remainder of the digestion occurs in the duodenum, and the released nutrients are absorbed mainly in the lower small intestine. The duodenum receives digestive enzymes and bicarbonate (to counter the hydrochloric acid from the proventriculus) from the pancreas and bile from the liver (via the gall bladder). The digestive juices produced by the pancreas are involved primarily in protein digestion. Bile is a detergent that is important in the digestion of lipids and the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). The lower small intestine is composed of two parts, the jejunum and the ileum. The Meckel's diverticulum marks the end of the jejunum and the start of the ileum. The Meckel's diverticulum is formed during a Kenku's embryonic stage. In the egg, the yolk sac supplies the nutrients needed for the embryo to develop and grow. Right before hatch, the yolk sac is taken into the navel cavity of the embryo. The residual tiny sac is the Meckel's diverticulum. Ceca The ceca (plural form of cecum) are two blind pouches located where the small and large intestines join. Some of the water remaining in the digested material is reabsorbed here. Another important function of the ceca is the fermentation of any remaining coarse materials. During this fermentation, the ceca produce several fatty acids as well as the eight B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, biotin, folic acid, and vitamin B12). Because the ceca are located so close to the end of the digestive tract, however, few of the produced nutrients are absorbed and available to the kenku. Large Intestine (Colon) Despite the name, the large intestine is actually shorter than the small intestine. The large intestine is where the last of the water reabsorption occurs. Cloaca In the cloaca, the digestive wastes mix with wastes from the urinary system (urates). kenku usually void faecal material as digestive waste with uric acid crystals on the outer surface—that is, kenku do not urinate. The colour and texture of kenku faecal material can indicate the health status of the Kenku's digestive tract: the white, pasty material coating kenku faecal material is uric acid, the avian form of urine, and is normal. The reproductive tract also exits through this area. When a hen lays an egg, the vagina folds over to allow the egg to leave through the cloaca opening without coming into contact with faeces or urine. Intestinal Microflora. Both the small and large intestines normally are populated with beneficial organisms (bacteria, yeast, etc.), referred to as microflora (micro meaning "small" and flora meaning "plants"). These microflora aid in digestion. When chicks hatch, their digestive tracts are virtually sterile. If raised by a mother hen, a chick obtains the beneficial microflora by consuming some of its mother's fecal material. In artificial incubation and brooding, chicks do not have this option. In such situations, producers can provide the chicks with probiotics, which are preparations containing the beneficial microflora that normally inhabit a kenku's digestive tract. Through the probiotics, the chicks receive the beneficial bacteria they need to fight off infection by pathogenic bacteria, such as salmonella. Intestinal disease in kenku normally occurs when the balance of normal microflora is upset—that is, the normal microflora are overrun by too many foreign organisms. The result is enteritis, or inflammation of the intestines. Enteritis produces symptoms that include diarrhoea, increased thirst, dehydration, loss of appetite, weakness, and weight loss or slow growth. Severe damage to the intestinal tract typically is called necrotic enteritis (necrotic meaning "dead tissue"), which is a problem in many types of production systems. Musculature Kenku have approximately 175 different muscles, most controlling the arms, skin and legs. The largest muscles in the Kenku body are the pectorals(breast muscles), which control the movement of the arms and make up about 15% of a Kenku's body weight. The muscle medial (underneath) to the pectorals is the supracoracoideus. The pectorals pull the arms forward during running, to further increase momentum. Both muscle groups attach to the keel of the sternum. This is remarkable, because other vertebrates have the muscles to raise the upper limbs generally attached to areas on the back of the spine. The supracoracoideus and the pectorals together make up about 25 – 35% of the bird's full body weight. The skin muscles allow a kenku to move almost ever feather individually, allowing them to clean easier and also increase drag when wanting to slow down or prevent themselves from automatically running. There are only a few muscles in the trunk and the tail, but they are very strong and are essential for the bird. The pygostyle controls all the movement in the tail and controls the feathers in the tail. This gives the tail a larger surface area which helps keep the bird in the air whilst jumping and preventing drag when climbing.
Physiology Metabolism Laypeople, and some scholars, are fond of the terms "cold-blooded" and "warmblooded" to describe ectothermic and endothermic creatures respectfully. An ectothermic creature lacks the ability to produce its own heat and must depend on its environment for warmth. Most ectothermic creatures seldom actually have cold blood, because they are able to find environmental heat to warm their bodies. An endothermic creature doesn't necessarily have warm blood. What it has is a body temperature that remains more or less steady no matter how hot or cold its surroundings become. Kenku are endothermic. Their body actually produces a large amount of heat due to the clustering of organs and muscles in their trunk. In order to cool this incredibly warm system, Kenku air sacs(like most birds) bring cold exterior air into the body as part of respiration and this respiration draws heat away from the body. As a result, Kenku have no obvious way to shed excess body heat. They do not sweat, and because of the respiratory efficiency, they do not pant either. Instead, the body's internal temperature is regulated during normal inhalation and exhalation. Diet Kenku are omnivorous, more freely so than many other races, easily eating any meat, eggs, seeds, insects, fruit, vegetables, spices and the like. Much of the time their diet is driven by their tastes at any particular time, reflecting the condition of their current health and lifestyle. Kenku can eat just about anything any animal in the area they find themselves can eat, obviously avoiding poisonous foods, and reshape their diet to apply best to themselves and their surroundings. Kenku often learn the cooking styles of their surrounding cultures, for the rare case of entertaining non-Kenku guests. "traditional" Kenku cooking is not something many races care to partake in due to its unpredictability. A Kenku may decide that a traditional local food is delicious one day, and disgusting another. It is not unheard of to find Kenku chefs however, these entities are typically born with slightly more taste buds than normal and have a focus on cooking, supplying further brainpower to the sense of taste. These rare Kenku chefs are quite capable of making nutritious meals for a particular Kenku's current tastes, that are also favourable to the tastes of other races. Life Cycle All known kenku that have died of old age have done so at or before 40 years of life. The lower bound for this death by old age appears to be roughly 32 years. Surprisingly, only one kenku is known to have lived beyond this 40 year barrier; Muninn Brachyr, Hero of Vierius, is still alive at 43 years of age. Eggs Kenku eggs are laid at 13cm long, and 6 cm wide. These eggs are green with brown and black mottling and what appears to be existing fractures. As the embryo grows, it reaches a stage where it presses on the interior sac, forcing the egg to expand in all directions. This continues until the secondary shell layer has room to emerge and interlock with the primary shell layer, producing an egg 135% the original length and width. These interlocking segments are shaped such to enable the standard strength of other avian eggs at all points of embryo development. When the feotus has finished developing, it consumes the interior sac and breaks out of the egg. These hatchlings are more developed than other avian species and are fully capable of speech and physical mobility from the moment of hatching. A typical kenku clutch consists of 5 to 6 eggs, though clutches have been known to range from as few as 3 to as many as 9. Particularly large clutches are not exceptionally common, and it is no unheard of for eggs above the typical 6 to be passed to fellow couples who are having difficulty breeding or ended up with a smaller than average clutch. On average, 93% of kenku eggs end up hatching. Unlike their primitive cousins, Kenku are able to consider when to mate. Typically a mated pair will assess the local area, determining the best times for both food and security. With this knowledge in mind, projections are made as to how long it would take eggs to hatch in the area; providing a period of time most suited to the laying of eggs. Most Kenku couples nest either in a Roosting Complex, or in a secure location close to cities. Most often these locations are either caves, tunnels, or abandoned buildings. If the floor is covered it will often be torn up to give access to the dirt and rock ground, in which several small holes are dug. These holes are shaped to hold the pointed end of an egg, and are large enough for the final size of an egg. In places where the ground is too difficult to dig up, or not possible to reach, various objects are gathered from the surrounding area to build something very similar to a typical birds nest. If a clutch is small enough, the egg holes are placed close together, with enough space in the middle for an adult to lay and cover the eggs with their wing feathers, helping keep them warm. In areas where fabric is plentiful, the eggs are often covered with blankets to achieve this purpose as well. Kenku spellcasters enjoy setting up feng-shui zones in these rooms to keep them at a comfortable temperature, which is part of the reason the hatching rate is so high even in cold areas. Roosting complexes typically devote an entire floor of a warehouse to this purpose. Warehouse nesting rooms can often be seen with several kenku at all times, watching the eggs and maintaining the feng-shui zone for optimum conditions. These rooms are usually in the centre of a complex, for security reasons, and contain pre-dug holes and usually very large chalkboards for tracking which eggs belong to which sets of parents. Due to all these conditions, Roosting complexes have a near perfect hatch rate of fertilized eggs. Kenku eggs take between 200 and 225 days to hatch. During this time, the eggs are either incubated by the parents, or wrapped in blankets or other such warm objects. During incubation, kenku infants still within the egg may begin speaking, most of the time this represents the ending of the development of the initial language all Kenku knew. Infants within the eggs are able to be heard and hear outside. This results in them being able to speak to their parents or each other while developing. It is in this stage that Kenku parents will often discuss potential names with the children themselves, or introduce them to words not of their native tongue that are important to know in the local area. Kenku age significantly faster than many other races, reaching sexual maturity at the age of 6 years. Kenku are considered adults at 9 years old, at which point they are the equivalent of a 20 year old human in terms of physical condition. Kenku are considered to enter Middle Age at 19, be old at 25 and are venerable as early as 32 years old. Very few Kenku make it to 40 years, and only one has ever been known to survive longer before succumbing to old age. As kenku age, their feathers bronze in colour, regardless of their normal colouration. In addition, the feathers on their arms grow longer to the point of weighing the arms down regularly. An older kenku's taste buds often die off quite quickly, resulting in a loss of taste and an inability to detect which substances are needed or in too high concentrations. Senses Vision Inherited from their avian ancestors, Kenku have highly developed, very accurate eyes. Present in the human eye are three kinds of light sensitive receptors, which detect red, greenish yellow, and blue light. Kenku eyes have four such receptors, which detect the colours of light humans would call red, green, cyan and ultraviolet. This additional fourth receptor allows Kenku to see far better in lower levels of light than a human. Scent Kenku are the only known synesthetic intelligent race. Birds in general have poor olfactory organs, compounded by very little brain structure that handles the input from such organs. Due to the rapid development of the Kenku lineage, and the increase of size both of brain and body, the portion of the brain that controlled the sense of smell was folded into and became part of the vision centre. As a result, the Kenku brain does not separate vision and smell, allowing them to see smells as fields of coloured light. The tetengu language does not have terms for different kinds of scents, but instead speaks of things having a "core colour" which it emanates. Hearing Kenku hear a slightly shorter range of sounds than humans, though they can differentiate between sounds at a higher fidelity than humans. A kenku ear is mainly a hole, covered by feathers that do not impact their level of hearing. Taste Kenku, like most aves, have a severely limited sense of taste. Despite their size and the size of their tongue compared to other birds and other sentient races, they possess only 4% the number of taste buds as humans do. While humans have on average about 9000 taste buds, Kenku average 360. These taste buds are more tuned to harmful chemicals and the Kenku's own bodily state, meaning that they only taste things as being Good, Bad, or weak. Good things are nutrients or materials the body needs more of, Bad things are harmful or currently in a high consumption, and weak things are foods that while they provide nourishment, maintain the bodies state. As such, the tetengu language does not include "Sweet", "Sour", "Bitter", "Spicy" or "Salty" Phonemes. It is not uncommon for Kenku taste buds to die off as they age, resulting in a complete loss of taste in their old age This is actually the leading cause of death in the elderly, who are incapable of discerning whether they are getting too much or too little of a necessary resource. Touch A kenku sense of touch is limited to their beak, hands and arms. The nerves in a Kenku's legs are less sensitive to hot and cold, but otherwise the Kenku sense of touch is roughly on par with humans. Modes of movement Kenku do not stand straight like many other races, instead having a roughly 35 degree lean forward due to their hips being unable to allow the body to lean back mush further. A kenku walks digitigrades(upon its toes), with knees bent to increase shock absorption. The kenku have a large amount of weight in their head and chest, and very little in their legs and tail, this results in their centre of mass being very far forward. A heavy lean and forward centre of mass results in kenku building momentum very easily when walking, forcing them to slow themselves as they walk. Kenku run strangely for a bipedal creature. The Kenku body leans down further, moving the centre of mass further forward and aiding momentum. In addition, rather than long strides common to other races, Kenku tend to bound as they run; making long but low one legged jumps as they run, each landing being the kickoff for the next stride. The phoneme(part of a word) in tetengu pronounced prkɹ means at the same time 'run', 'jump' and 'climb', because to the Kenku, all these are the same sensation, to move quickly. Due to a Kenku's automatic forward momentum, walking long enough will automatically result in running. The bodies momentum keeps dragging the bird forward, and by utilizing its environment, the kenku is able to make significant speeds even in areas one would not expect. Certain humans model a sport after the kenku locomotion and in respect to the species, call it 'Parkour' a rough approximation of the traditional name.
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