Skyskipper

The skyskipper sniffler, a member of the polar snifflers and related to the seaskipper, is a little different from its relatives: this tiny trunko makes its home high up on the cliffs of Serinarcta's sky islands, sometimes more than a mile above the ground. It can be seen, if you have a sharp eye, as it swiftly darts from one spot to another across steep rock faces and dashes to hide in cracks within, but it is very fast and very shy, and glimpses of it are likely to be brief. It has good reason to be elusive - these cliffs are not safe. Predators such as nightbiters, firebirds, and scarreots patrol the sky island's edges, and will be quick to snatch up an unwary sniffler. This trunko seems out of place in this choice of habitat, and in many respects, it is: its ancestors were carried here accidentally in the plumage of large birds from low-lying regions in the upperglades. Like the contemporary seaskipper, the common ancestor of both species was an opportunistic cleaner of larger birds' parasites. And like it, it sometimes got transported far from home. In the case of this species, they became marooned on the peaks of these veritable mountains more than a million years ago, and unable to get back down, they adapted to this most unusual of habitats.

These snifflers choose to nest in cracks on the vertical slopes of the cliff, as overall fewer enemies can get them here than at the peak, and they are vulnerable only when out of their nests. They must be intelligent and alert to survive nonetheless, and have become more strongly social, living in colonies in which individuals can alternate feeding and standing sentry to alert the rest to approaching enemies. This is in stark contrast to their nearest relative, the sniffsnatch, which is among the most antisocial trunkos. Skyskippers den deep inside hollows and crevices within the cementree structure, but they must make voyages to the peak to gather food; their diet is broad and generalized, consisting of seeds, insects, and carrion. All three can often be collected from mowerbird nesting grounds on the top of the islands, with which they are associated. Moving like lightning from one hiding place to another, these mouse-sized birds cling to the rocks with their long grasping toes and jump from perch to perch without any apparent concern for the vast height below them if they were to fall. Once at the summit, they stick to the shadows under ledges and vegetation, collecting any small, edible food particles with their bristled trunks. They pick through the nests of the mowerbirds, ignored by the occupants, for they are beneficial and remove blood-sucking parasites that weaken the chicks. In addition, they pick through the mowerbird's copious accumulations of guano for undigested seeds carried in from the distant grasslands below the island, which are otherwise inaccessible to this tiny mountaineer. When a chick dies, it is cast out from the nest by its parents, and so too joins the dung heap. Whenever this occurs, skyskippers surround it almost immediately and tear it apart piece by piece, taking advantage of the windfall of fresh meat to supplement their diets. In doing so, they keep the nesting colony clean and reduce the transmission of disease. Occasionally they will climb into the plumage of some large visiting bird and be carried to another summit; once an accidental occurrence, this is now their only manner of dispersing to new territories. 

Like the firmament city sniffler, skyskippers will store food within their neck pouches, filling it with seeds and other edible tidbits so that they can be taken back to shelter and eaten later. Because they are small and their eggs develop quickly, females incubating their young do not leave their nests at all, and are provided food in this way by the male and other colony members.