Falcophreys

Following its evolution, the sausophrey radiated outwards into new biomes, producing many new species which are nearly identical apart from local adaptations. These are known as falcophreys. They are flying mesopredators comparable to eagles or hawks, which see any small fauna not in flight as potential food.

Falcophreys have slotted wings, allowing them to soar without needing long legs and allowing them to take advantage of thermals while scanning the ground for potential prey. They are generally diurnal, though they may hunt in the early morning or late evening as well, allowing them to hunt some nocturnal creatures. As they lack talons, they catch and kill prey by swooping down and snatching them with their sideways beak-like jaws. These can bypass woody armor and short spikes. They cannot taste garlic and can tolerate the taste of ammonia, allowing them to consume certain strongly-flavored nodents. They have very good color vision, particularly in the ultraviolet spectrum, which is very helpful for identifying prey.

Falcophreys are poor climbers and nest communally on the ground, usually in the shelter of shrubs or rocks. Quite unlike the birds of prey they resemble, their young are able to run soon after birth, allowing them to escape from predators, though they cannot yet fly. They perform parental care, feeding their chicks fresh kills. Outside of breeding season, falcophreys are largely solitary and territorial.

Falcophreys have “tail crests”, which serve both as rudders for flight and as communication devices. These can be hidden by folding their tail feathers up against them. The tail crests are always colorful, but not always to the naked eye; they commonly utilize colors outside of the visible spectrum, so they may not appear distinct to anything that is not a jewel-eyed sauceback.

Sansaws
The sansaws is very similar to the sausophrey, but it hunts in the southern desert and bordering beaches. Its lighter coloration helps reflect heat and sunlight off of its body as it hunts throughout the day. It has been known to swipe baby pirate waxfaces right from the tails of their mothers. It nests among small flora and shrubs found in the desert, such as coastal goth trees, bristlepiles, and arid puffgrasses, where its eggs and juveniles are well-hidden.

The light spots on the sansaws' tail glow pink under ultraviolet light. They appear as a color unperceivable to the human eye to other jewel-eyed saucebacks.

Faxon
The faxon resides in western Dixon and is closely related to the Sansaws. It has a pinkish coloration so that it remains hidden against dry grass. It finds tall grass, as well as larger flora such as fuzzpiles and young ferines, to be suitable hiding places for its nests. Its tail glows with contrasting blue and orange stripes under ultraviolet light, despite its drab appearance in the visible spectrum.

Snawler
The snawler is the largest of the falcophreys. Its large size can be attributed to its choice of habitat in Vivus’ polar region, where being larger is better for holding in heat. Being white in color with black spots of varying density causes it to resemble a pile of dirty snow while on the ground. Its spiracles are mostly obscured by the long feathers on its back.

The snawler breeds in the short polar summer. It rarely breeds in the tundra, as its chances of survival are much higher in the milder scrub and polar woodland. Stoutplage and dense thickets of tripcrystals and hedgecrystals provide adequate protection for its eggs and young. Its irridescent tail appears to other jewel-eyed saucebacks as a shifting rainbow of the entire (for them) visible spectrum.

Woodsalcon
The woodsalcon is one of the smaller of the falcophreys. It lives above temperate and montane obsidian forests, feeding from the canopy or from the ground in areas where the trees are sparser. Its smaller size can be attributed to its choice of tree-dwelling prey, which in turn require it to be able to extract itself when a failed hunt results in it being caught among the branches. It cannot always bring its prey into the air; if it must dive too deep into branches to exit immediately, it will fold its wings shortly before impact to avoid damaging them on the branches.

The woodsalcon's coloration allows it to blend in with obsidian leaf litter when it nests on the ground. It always nests near a clearing or at the forest's edge so that it may enter and exit its nesting area freely. Juvenile obsiditrees make up most of its nest protection deep in the forest itself, but near the edges and in patches clear of obsiditrees, it may live among tubeplages and thickets of crystal brambley. Its tail bears unseen stripes inside the "slots" of the visible pink marking that glow green in ultraviolet light.

Coastwoodufo
The coastwoodufo hunts over forest clearings and flies along beaches bordering forested biomes, scanning for prey that expose themselves in these areas. It has blond, champagne, and black color variants across its range.

The dark stripes on the coastwoodufo's tail glow vividly teal under ultraviolet light. To the eyes of a jewel-eyed sauceback, the green stripes are actually the darker ones. The coastwoodufo nests under juvenile obsiditres within the forests and among fuzzpiles, puffgrasses, and coastal goth trees along the coast.

(Scientific name note: Named after Sheather because he suggested calling this lineage “flying saucers” and this one is a ufo)

Underswooper
The underswooper takes advantage of the wide spacing of trees in the obsidian forests to hunt prey on the forest floor. It also hunts in the alpine tundra, a biome not occupied by other falcophreys. It has very large ears so that it can hear its prey. Its dark coloration allows it to blend in among obsidian flora and leaf litter. The underswooper is a better twilight and masonlight hunter than other falcophreys, as it can see better in the dark.

The underswooper's tail is just green and has no ultraviolet markings. It nests among fallen branches and under juvenile obsiditrees.