Croator

Croator were flightless birds from Wyndigal 2's swamps and marshlands. They were spindly avians, with long double-jointed legs and small arms in place of wings. These limbs featured webbed feet and front paws and flexible joints, allowing them to crouch low in the water or to unfold their limbs to run at high speeds. Croators had long proboscises, which they used to suck small fish, insects, and microorganisms from the mud.
Their backs were covered by a cape-like feathered membrane, with a similar hood over their heads. Their capes and hoods were white and blue in color, and were highly reflective. This helped them survive the intense ultraviolet radiation of their homeworld's sun. In the early part of the day, the cape and hood would drape loosely on a croator's body as they moved about. Later in the day, as the light became more intense, they would wrap their bodies and heads, and stay in one spot to feed. Spacers unlucky enough to be stranded on Wyndigal 2 would sometimes kill croator for these membranes, which they used to cover themselves for protection.
Croator lived in temporary bands of three to five members, who scattered when their feeding grounds were depleted. They reproduced asexually, laying eggs once every standard year after a three-month gestation period. Young croator were fully viable when they hatched, immediately able to search for their own food. These young croator were frequently eaten by predators such as the nyantolo, but enough survived for the species as a whole to thrive.
==Sources==
*Creatures of the Galaxy
Category:Creatures of unspecified diet
Category:Creatures of Wyndigal 2
Category:Flightless birds
Category:Species of undefined sentience
Category:Swamp creatures