Sealbirds

Neohesperonis spp.

Status: Endangered

Neohesperornids or "sealbirds" are large aquatic seabirds native to the waters around the Mossfell archipelago. Named after the archaic Hesperornis which swam in the seas of the late Cretaceous, sealbirds are instead more closely related to waterfowl such as cormorants and anhinga. Sealbirds have several features which they share with their mainland relatives such as an elongated snake-like neck, webbed hindlegs which they use to paddle, and thin beaks to catch swift ocean prey. In the modern day, the Mossfells are home to two species of Neohesperornids: the Orangeshock sealbird (named for the bright orange chest and eye feathers), and the Jormungandr sealbird (named after their tremendously long snake like neck resembling that of the Norse world-serpent Jormungandr). 

Unlike their smaller relatives, sealbirds have attempted to adapt completely to an oceanic environment. On the isolated Mossfells, sealbirds have become large and flightless. Their wings are no more than vestigial nubs. Due to their size (with Jormungandr sealbirds reaching lengths of up to 8 feet, and orangeshock sealbirds lengths of up to 5 feet), sealbirds struggle to stand upright when on land, and instead have to push their ungainly bodies with their stocky webbed feet (their ungainly land locomotion as well as rude sounding calls are the origin of the common name sealbird). Underwater, sealbirds are proficient and elegant swimmers rivaling seals and penguins. Unlike anhinga, cormorants, and their namesake Hesperornis, sealbirds swim with a combination of side to side body motions like a crocodile and paddling like extinct mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. This gives them a greater mobility than other aquatic birds, rivaling only that of penguins.  Rarely, sealbirds will stick their neck out of the water to scan their surroundings, giving them the impression of a large sea-serpent. 

Sealbirds prefer to hunt smaller fish in shallow sea grass meadows or on the edges of reefs, but will also hunt octopi, squid, and crabs if available. They will travel up to 50 miles a day to search for food. Orangeshock sealbirds will hunt alone or in pairs consisting of life-long mates while Jormungandr sealbirds prefer to hunt alone. Hunting strategies often involve swarming a bait ball and picking off stragglers, but sealbirds have also been observed forcing their prey close to beaches where they can easily be caught. Because of the historically good fishing grounds of the Mossfells and nearby George's Bank, sealbirds don't find themselves in direct competition with another resident beach goer of the Mossfells, the Common Harbor Seal. It's very common to see harbor seal colonies and sealbird colonies nearby each other, and individuals do not seem to mind each other's presence. 

Both species of sealbird mate for life and will nest in colonies on igneous rock beaches commonly found in the more volcanically active areas of the archipelago such as the island of Mossfellheim and the Blackrock Isles. Males and Females are identical in size and weight. Both species utilize complex mating rituals to establish connections between the pair which include many series of croaks, whistles, and brays as well as rhythmic movements of their necks, beaks, and vestigial wings. It is estimated that 23% of sealbird pairings are between same-sex individuals, which also perform the same complex mating rituals and also demonstrate life-long bonds. If a partner is lost, sealbirds will become depressed and may spend years before seeking out a new partner.

Paired sealbirds will work together to protect a single egg laid by a female during the summer months, with both members of the pair alternating between retrieving food and incubating/protecting the egg. When the egg hatches within 7 weeks, the chick is taken care of by its parents for 3 to 5 months depending on the chick's growth. If chicks fail to thrive, mating pairs will often attempt to lay a new egg and raise a new young before the breeding season is over, and will reject their young. Same-sex pairs will occasionally attempt to raise these rejected young or steal fertilized eggs from neighboring nests and do so with similar rates of success. Once young are raised, they leave their parents and return to their birthplace the following year to seek out a mate. Sealbirds almost always return to the location of their birth to raise young, and it has only been documented once over 240 years that a sealbird pair attempted to raise young in a new location and establish a new colony (this being a well documented colony which originated from a lone nesting pair on Long Island in 1924). This habit of returning to the place of their birth has led to the sealbirds remaining very much isolated to the Mossfell archipelago, as well as vulnerable to human activity. It is thought that prior to it's inundation, the George's Bank was also host to many sealbird colonies as evidenced by several remains found in the area.

Despite being respected in both Viardrmen culture as well as the Georges Bank  Culture as a bringer of fortune, sealbirds historically were prized for their meat (which allegedly tastes slightly sour, yet rich) and their ivory-like beaks. This has led to a steady decrease in their population since the first permanent settlements were established in the Mossfells. It is hypothesized that two other sealbird species which favored nesting in sandy shores have already been driven to extinction by the Viardrmen around the 14th century. Several thousands of beak-ivory carvings have been found in graves and ruins dating to the Mossfell Norse and Viardrmen periods. During the English and later American colonization and settlement of the Mossfells sailors and whalers would hunt sealbirds voraciously to provide fresh meat for their crew, while other hunters would poach the birds for their ivory-like beaks to fashion artistic pieces. 

Even as whaling and ivory jewelry began to become phased out, sealbird numbers further plummeted in the 20th century due to advances in commercial fishing. Fish nets would indiscriminately catch sealbirds along with cod and cause the birds to drown. It wasn't until the passage of the Endangered Species Act as well as the establishment of the Mossfellheim-Zizek National Refuge that sealbird numbers began to inch up. In the modern day, these bizarre birds are still remarkably rare, and some conservationists worry that the gene pool may be too limited for future generations of sealbirds. Only time will tell.