Swampstrainer

The swampstrainers split from their ancestors, the nightstrainers, when a sudden earthquake collapsed the entrance to the Rabid Sandstone Caves while they were out feeding along the Slarti River. This event forced them to become homeless instantaneously, and when desperate attempts to return to their nests failed miserably, they had no choice but to move on with their existence alone.

Oddly, they outlived their caved-in brethren, and eventually adapted far enough along to be considered a separate species entirely. The swampstrainers moved down river from their old feeding grounds along the Slarti River coast, eventually moving down into the Slarti Swamp, although the remnants of their ancestors (still the same species as the migrants at this time) remained along the Slarti River, and continued to exist separated from the rest. Here their legs grew longer for wading through the wetlands unhindered while their straining beaks did the same, causing their wings to also increase in size to continue to allow flight.

With a lack of awkward cavern walls to build their nests on, they now lap their amazing saliva onto the Binucleus Hollow Crystal or the Crystarbor, preferring the taller variety, where their young are less likely to be preyed upon. Males have grown a wonderful crest with which they use to challenge other males to their territories - in this contest, it is the larger, more healthy crest that wins the day and therefore the right to build nests on the tallest of the flora they choose to inhabit. To differentiate themselves from their ancestors, they have long, mournful, wailing calls, produced through the posterior ventilation shaft. Their eyes now allow them to spot potential predators during the night, and act accordingly, while continuing to provide ample sight during daylight hours.