Purple Dashlut

Purple Dashlut

The Purple Dashlut (pronounced dass-lit) also known as Communi Purpura is a bird which lives on Planet X.

Appearance

It has a white belly to camouflage against the sky and a blue head to blend in with the bush in which it lives. Its wings are purple and its back is as well. its back It is similar in appearance to a macaw and has 7 long tail feathers. It has small wings and eyes. Males have a large black spike on the back of their head, which varies in size. They use this when finding mates. It also has a black band around its neck, and each one is unique which they use to recognise each other. They are about 30 centimetres tall, and their tail is another 25. It has two toes facing forward and two toes facing backward.

Diet

The Purple Dashlut’s diet consists of very little. It only eats the Deadly Malda berry which has a very hard stem. It counters this by having two toes forward and two toes back which makes up a very strong grip. The Purple Dashlut never has to drink either because it gets all its water from the berry. The Deadly Malda is an epiphyte(a plant that grows on another plant), therefore it can grow in the lower canopy making it perfect for nesting and feeding.

Adaptations

The Purple Dashlut has many amazing adaptations, such as its mating dance. For this mating dance the male raises the spike on the top of its head and spreads out its wings and tail feathers to impress the female. It also has an amazing sense of smell which it uses to sniff out its food, the Deadly Malda berry, which its stomach has adapted to remove the toxins that the berry possesses. Some feathers on the back of its wings have spikes on them, after it removes the toxins in the Deadly Malda berries,  it uses them in its spikes as a defence against predators.  It can also fan out its tail feathers which allows it to change directions quickly.

Reproduction

Female Purple Dashluts lay up to 2 eggs for every one to two years. The eggs take around 18 days to hatch, and once hatched, the mother looks after them for a month. After that the chicks are left to fend for themselves. These birds are born completely white, and get their colour from the juice of the Deadly Malda berries. 

Habitat

The Purple Dashlut lives in the lower canopy of the rainforest where the Deadly Malda grows. Deadly Maldas have blue tinted leaves blue with purple berries. They claim a Deadly Malda and nest in it. This is so when the females lay eggs, they don’t have to move very far to get food.

Social life

These birds are social animals, and they typically live in small family groups consisting of three to six, but those groups are very territorial. A group of Purple Dashluts is called a page but very rarely if a page reaches a population of over six it is called a book.

Purple Dashluts are intriguing animals that are a part of the ecosystem on 

Planet X