FCaBA

Fictional Characters as Birds Assigner

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Hello and welcome to my blog! I am the FCaBA (Fictional Characters as Birds Assigner)!

Asks are welcomed! Whether about me, birds, or just random stuff! I don't take suggestions for fandoms though, I stick to fandoms I'm in and know.

I do not have a DNI, but I block freely, that is your warning.

What is this blog? Why was it made?

As the name suggests, this blog is just dedicated to assigning fictional characters bird species. Due to a special something that is probably just undiagnosed autism, I tend to fixate and research birds a lot. Hanging around fandom spaces my brain often automates to correlating characters as birds, so this blog was purely created so I had a space to place but also show off my thoughts!

This blog is pretty much for me and for me only, none of this is all that serious (in fact, most is pretty silly!) but if I reason that I chose this particular species for this particular character, it can be found below the cut.

General About Me info

No pronoun preference, you can use whatever. My favorite bird is the Arctic Tern, but the bird in my profile is a Black Headed Gull. I live in the U.S of America, in the western half. I've seen lots of cool birds, although sadly none of my lifers :(

I create art, while most of that is posted on my main blog (good luck finding it), I do post drawings of characters as birds here!

Organization

Below are my tags specific for this blog, if you need to find me, search those up. FCaBA art is specifically for art I created of characters as the birds I chose for them, and FCaBA answer is for post answering any asks I get.

Under every post will also be tagged with the character, species, but also the family (so if you're curious about what characters I see as, say sulids, you can search that up in my blog!)

Stamps found across the Internet, ensured credit was not needed

Divider made by @lariesographic

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Solanum from Outer Wilds is a Titanis walleri!

Reasons for choice below cut

I'll be honest, I've yet to meet Solanum! The only reason I know about her is because I actively ignored spoilers believing I'd never own the game anyways (you'd never guess what I now own 🥲).

What I have explored of Outer Wilds, I always get a bit choked up looking around the Nomia ruins. They seemed so beautiful and wonderful, but they are gone now. You can only really imagine what they were like, and that makes my heart ache.

I feel the same way about so many extinct bird species, and particularly chose a Terror Bird because of the almost myth like status they've obtained as ancient, beautiful, and powerful things now long gone, a mystery to us.

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Zane ninjago? As bird?

Zane from Ninjago is a Gyrfalcon! (Falco rusticolus)

Reasons for choice below cut

I wanted to choose a member of the falcon family because of Zane's own falcon (the brown morphs look a bit like Zane's falcon!). Gyr specifically because of their arctic habitats and aggressive fighting skills.

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Eva Stratt from Project Hail Mary is a White Tailed Eagle! (Haliaeetus albicilla)

Reasons for choice below cut

Frankly, they're absolutely gorgeous birds, and have this authoritative aura to them (at least in photos, I've yet to be lucky enough to see one in person).

In British history, they were vilified for hunting, just doing what they needed to do to ensure survival. Despite this, the species has quite the success story, and is managing to recover!

What's really interesting about them that ultimately led to this choice is that White Tailed Eagles fight the same way a similar looking American species (the bald eagle) courts. Reminds me of something...

Also in some photos the coloring of their feathers looks a lot like the coloring of Stratt's hair lol.

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Twilight from Linked Universe is a Harris Hawk! (Parabuteo unicinctus)

Reasons for choice below cut

Harris Hawks are known for working together to hunt, often likened to wolves. It's believed this behavior stems from their intelligence, which is surprisingly high for a bird of prey.

Where I'm from, U.S America, these guys really only hang around the south west (their range extends far into central and South America!), and one of my favorite things about the Twilight Princess games is the old west aesthetic a lot of it has :)

Bonus: A Harris Hawk that I've met before! His name is Stax, and is sadly declared missing. If you live in the Salt Lake valley of Utah, please keep an eye out for him!

Update: Stax has been located! He's currently hanging out on private property, and Hawk Watch is now preparing to bring him back to captivity :)

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Jay Walker from Ninjago is an American Kestrel! (Falco sparverius)

Reasons for choice below cut

I see a lot of kestrels in my area, very cool little guys with massive personalities!

They're fast, loud, bold and quite the fighters. I chose specifically an American Kestrel is because of the cool blue coloring the males have.

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Ava from Iron Lung is a Black Faced Ibis! (Theristicus melanopis)

Reasons for choice below cut

Originally I just chose this species for looks, Ibises look cool, intimidating, and have similar colors to Ava. Then I realized there was sort of an irony to this choice that I really enjoy.

Thoth is an Egyptian god with the head of an ibis and is the god of knowledge. Ava purposely kept knowledge hidden away from Simon during his execution mission, which may had been one of the many factors that contributed to both their deaths. Who really knows though?

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Tsuyu Asui from My Hero Academia is a Common Potoo/Kakuy! (Nyctibius griseus)

Reasons for choice below cut

Look, I don't watch MHA, my sister does, that's the only reason I know about this character. But I mean, look at them.

Also Potoos are related to frogmouth birds.

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Simon/The Convict from Iron Lung is a São Tomé Grosbeak! (Crithagra concolor)

Reasons for choice below cut

I had briefly considered assigning Simon to a species of butcher birds (kind of obvious why, being the Butcher and all that), but ultimately went against it.

Instead, I chose a São Tomé, the largest species of canary. This idea came from the canary in a coal mine metaphor. Simon, like many canaries throughout history, was sent into a dark and unknown place with no guarantee of survival, more likely to die in there and suffocate than ever make it out. (The difference being that canaries were usually loved and cared for by their captors).

A sad little fact that also contributed to this decision is the São Tomé Grosbeaks are critically endangered, with an estimate of less than 250 left. In Iron Lung, humanity, Simon included, is just barely hanging on, surviving feels more of a miracle that they'll continue to hope and work for.

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Ryland Grace from Project Hail Mary is an Arctic Tern! (Sterna paradisaea)

Reasons for choice below cut

No this is not just me giving my favorite bird to my favorite character whatareyoutalkingabout?

Okay, seriously though, both Grace and Arctic Terns are very near and dear to my heart, both being massive inspirations and symbols of hope for me. Lots of personal love went into this choice.

But! Here are some of the reasons I made this choice:

Arctic Terns have the longest migration of any animal, going 19,000 km at the minimum (oftentimes their journey is even longer). Grace went further than any human ever had before, and got to live a happy life over 12 light years away!

They're very small, and can easily be underestimated. This is mostly Grace underestimating himself, but there's also a passage in the book where a room of people question Stratt's choice in recruiting a middle school teacher.

A very interesting fact about Arctic Terns is that it's believed they see the most sunlight out of any animal, just as Grace saw Sol, Tau Ceti, and Eridiani in his lifespan.

Arctic Terns are very social birds, and often create life long bonds :)

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Arin as a Little Spotted Kiwi. Small water color doodle made by me

The lighting of my house is unfortunately annoying, and I apologize for it effecting the image quality.

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Arin Nived from Ninjago Dragons Rising is a Little Spotted Kiwi/kiwi pukupuku! (Apteryx owenii)

You can view the art I made for this character here:

💬 0  🔁 0  ❤️ 0 · Arin as a Little Spotted Kiwi. Small water color doodle made by me

Reasons for choice below cut

I have a lot more of the Ninjago team along the way, but Arin is purposely the only flightless bird as he is the only ninja without elemental powers. Little Spotted Kiwis are also the smallest species of kiwi in the Apterygidae family.

Despite this, these little guys can and will absolutely fight, often using their claws, which are very sharp.

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The Blood Eel from Iron Lung is a Dalmatian Pelican! (Pelecanus crispus)

Reasons for choice below cut

I'm going to be honest, pelicans scare the shit out of me, they're aquatic, they're predators, and they have big ol' mouths.

Also, Dalmatian Pelicans are the largest species of pelican, so why not? It suits her well.

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The Phantom from Phantom of the Opera is a Common Loon! (Gavia immer)

Reasons for choice below cut

Spooky

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The Hatchling from Outer Wilds is a Snowy Albatross! (Diomedea exulans)

Reasons for choice below cut

There's really only two reasons for this one.

1. Albatrosses have an almost comical landing, they fly most of their lives, so land isn't exactly their specialty. If you've ever seen or played Outer Wilds, landing the spaceship can get really clumsy and goofy (I somehow managed to get stuck in a tree the other day).

2. Snowy Albatrosses have one of the longest migrations of any albatross, like the rest of the family, they spend most of their life flying at sea, only coming to land to breed and raise chicks. Can you really rest or feel at home when you know the solar system, along with all you've ever known and loved, is ending in twenty two minutes?