Round-Winged Hookphlyer

(Replaces its ancestor in the Maneiac Polar Coast area)

The broad, rounded wings of the round-winged hookphlyer make it maneuverable at low flight speeds. It also helps it catch thermals so it can soar. While soaring, it uses its keen eyesight to spot nectascooters, its primary prey. Once a nectascooter is spotted, it slowly glides down, maneuvering to grab the nectascooter at a certain angle. When lifted from a certain angle, it's easier to overcome the sticky hold of the nectascooter's slime. Round-winged hookphlyers often use the nectascooter's trunk or eyestalks as handles when lifting them.

Their beaks are wooden, and because wood does not conduct electricity, the nectascooter's defense of producing an electric charge from its spikes is useless. The pincer-like tips of the beak even extend past the tongue of the round-winged hookphlyer, so the nectascooter can't even shock its predator's tongue.

Nectascooters are swallowed whole immediately after capture. This is because the nectascooters would otherwise disrupt the round-winged hookphlyer's balance in flight.

Just after grabbing a nectascooter, the round-winged hookphlyer makes a soft, vaguely trumpet-like sound from its butt-nostrils. It's hypothesized that it does this to clear its stomach of carbon dioxide, so its prey will quickly suffocate once it is swallowed. (Being a plent, the nectascooter breathes carbon dioxide) It's unclear whether the capture toot is equivalent to flatulation or burping. The round-winged hookphlyer may also do this to slightly lighten its load. Round-winged hookphlyers can't hear the capture toots, for they have a poor sense of hearing.

Young round-winged hookphlyers photosynthesize. This supplements the food their parents provide them, and can provide up to seven percent of their daily energy requirements. For better photosynthesis, their wings are disproportionately large and slightly wrinkled. This increases the surface area. The wings' disproportionate hugeness give the impression of a toddler wearing the father's comically oversized sweater. As the round-winged hookphlyer ages, the rest of its body "grows into" its wings, and an enzyme important for photosynthesis is deactivated. The loss of this enzyme's function is comparable to how most humans lose the ability to digest lactose past babyhood.