Ratites

Ratites, also known as Palaeognathae, are builds that specced into increased Healthand precocial levelingas a sacrifice to the [Flight] ability.They are also the most primitive of the current Bird builds.

## In General

Ratites are rated as F-tier by TierZoo himself. While they can have increased base stats by speccing into Gigantism in exchange for losing the Flight ability. In practice, this didn't quite pan out. While they are the strongest Birds in terms of base power and defensive stats , for their weight class, they are woefully underpowered. They are one of the few megafauna builds that can be taken down by Cheetahs, which isn't saying much considering the most common weight threshold to qualify as "megafauna" is at least 45 kg (100 lbs) and Cheetahs, weighing at 143 pounds at max, can themselves qualify as megafauna, even though they should be able to annihilate Cheetahs with their powerful claws.Their huge weak point presents a lot of opportunity to counter-attack too, so if they ever get too bold, they are setting themselves up for a tough loss. Lastly, the fact that they are forced to nest on the ground forces them into an even more vulnerable position than most Birds, as ratite eggs are extremely valuable as loot. The objective defense task is not an easy task even for high-tier builds, so for Ostriches, Emus and Cassowaries, this is a huge hurl.

## Tier List

### F-tier

#### Kiwi

At the bottom of the tier list, we have a flightless Bird build, with amassive glaring weakness. This is the Kiwi. Kiwis are hilariously part of the same guild as, in order of viability, Ostriches, Emus, and Cassowaries. For some reason, it opted to give up the [Flight] ability but didn't use the extra available points to spec into [Gigantism] like the rest of its squad did. The result is a build that could only exist in an island server with no active Mammal playerbase, New Zealand. Due to invasive species like Rat and Domestic Cats establishing a presence in island servers, this Bird build is seeing major declines in its playerbase.

### D-tier

#### Ostrich

The largest current Bird build in the current meta,hailing from the African server. While it can have increased base stats by speccing into Gigantism in exchange for losing the Flight ability, In practice, this didn't quite pan out. While it is the strongest Birds in terms of base power and defensive stats, for its weight class, it is woefully underpowered. It is one of the few megafauna builds that can be taken down by Cheetahs, even though it should be able to annihilate Cheetahs with its powerful claws. Its huge weak point presents a lot of opportunity to counter-attack too, so if it ever gets too bold, it is setting itself up for a tough loss. Lastly, the fact that it is forced to nest on the ground forces it into an even more vulnerable position than most Birds, as Ostrich eggs are extremely valuable as loot, so for this build, it is a huge hurl.

#### Tinamou

Having the only distinction of being the only ratite build capable of flight, but preferring to walk instead,The Tinamou build is found in Latin American servers, closely related to the banned Moa build, which ranks higher in this list. They also use the flock strategy to avoid predators, although this is mostly ineffective. Size-wise, they are the weakest **ratite** builds and are completely incapable of kick attacks.

### C-tier

#### Moas (Banned)

A banned ratite build from New Zealand, closely related to the far worse Tinamou, this build uses the [Island Gigantism] perk to increase its base stats. It can use the flock strategy, run fast and kick hard. While this build may face problems with Haast's Eagles ,Heracles Inexpectatus and it barely even has any use for its kick attacks due to the lack of terrestial predators, but it does not have any other bad matchups.

### B-tier

#### Rhea

This build is the largest Bird build in the South American server.These builds use the flocking strategy and can scatter, increaing their chances of escape. Their Power stat is also nothing to scoff at either.They also have the high Mobility stat typical of ratite builds. They have even spread to European servers. Their only bad matchups are the Bush dog,Cougars and Jaguars.

#### Cassowary

Playable in New Guinea and Australia, This ratite build speccs into the highest Power stat of all the ratites.It is also the second heaviest Bird build of the current meta.The reason for its high Power is because it can jump to combo into the [Flying Kick] move and can headbutt using its crest. It also has decent Mobility, although not in the level of most ratite builds .Those strategies are useless against Raptors, and because it is solitary, it can be taken down by pack hunting builds. Still much better than the other current ratite builds, though.

#### Emu

A build similar to Ostriches,These builds are also forced to minmax for Mobility and Power in order to make up for their inferior Intelligence.However, what throws them out of F-tier is that they are playable in the Australian server, which is far easier than the African server, and it mostly only struggles against introduced builds and native Reptile builds. Another great feature is their Bullet Resistance and Dodge abilities, making them have one of the better matchups against human players. In fact, one time, a PVP event between human and emu players ended up with the emu players winning due to their uncanny ability to shrug off projectiles.

### A-tier

#### Elephant Bird

A Malagasy build related to the Kiwi,This build also used the [Island Gigantism] trait. It is an inspiration for Roc memes, which pertains to a Raptor main OP enough to body an Elephant.It also has the Intelligence of a Kiwi.It also retained the powerful kicks used by other ratite builds. But didn't have as much Mobility as them. Normally, this is a dumb move as ratites often minmax for Mobility, but in a meta with absolutely no gankers,this build managed to get a top-tier spot compared to other ratites.

### S-tier

#### Nothing

Still nothing. Ironic, isn't it? Apparently you can't compete with [Flight] capable birds and Mammal builds, can you? Not until they unlock the pack-hunting ability that high tiers do, oops did I just ruin the meta? No? Good... Or maybe just specc into even more bulk, since you would be able to KO most predators with your relatively high stats. This is actually what the Giraffe Ostrich build did in the Neocene mod. This way, you can use the same playstyle, but much more effectively.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7155535/
2. ↑ https://tier-zoo.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Ratite#cite\_ref-1
3. ↑ https://bcs.whfreeman.com/WebPub/Biology/gill/Birds-of-the-World/99010-04.htm
4. ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1038/npg.els.0001550
5. ↑ https://kids.kiddle.co/Palaeognathae
6. ↑ https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/67/10/919/4201669
7. ↑ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/cheetah
8. ↑ https://dinoanimals.com/animals/largest-and-heaviest-birds-top-10/
9. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/animal/ostrich
10. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/animal/tinamou
11. ↑ https://science.jrank.org/pages/6846/Tinamous.html8
12. ↑ https://www.rom.on.ca/en/blog/dna-confirms-relationship-between-the-giant-flightless-moa-and-the-tinamous
13. ↑ https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/pattin1/cur/introduction
14. ↑ https://dwazoo.com/animal/great-tinamou/#:~:text=Tinamus%20major&text=Size%3A%20They%20grow%20to%20about,solitary%20except%20during%20mating%20season.
15. ↑ https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/why-did-new-zealands-moas-go-extinct#:~:text=For%20millions%20of%20years%2C%20nine,ago%2C%20they%20abruptly%20went%20extinct.&text=Now%2C%20a%20new%20genetic%20study,perpetrator%20of%20the%20birds'%20extinction.
16. ↑ https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c\_id=1&objectid=11254682#:~:text=Their%20results%20found%20convincing%20evidence,-the-run"%20lifestyle.
17. ↑ https://www.thelionslodge.co.nz/gigantism%20-animals-newzealand
18. ↑ https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=-Oo\_kFo09VEC&pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&dq=moa+bird+flock&source=bl&ots=fFfyGYLzif&sig=ACfU3U2Hw1muOq12Zxk8R7uEEsunZIIjbw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOiKCX2pfqAhUKa94KHQQSCj8Q6AEwGXoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q=moa%20bird%20flock&f=false
19. ↑ https://www.softschools.com/facts/extinct\_animals/moa\_facts/2503/
20. ↑ https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=iVEWPg8vnxgC&pg=PA387&lpg=PA387&dq=moa+kick+bird&source=bl&ots=GkukuGOjBR&sig=ACfU3U3nzv7TwYEE2ku-oT\_uLk7aZAMM3A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwii3ZXE2JfqAhWNwZQKHZ05C4cQ6AEwFnoECAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=moa%20kick%20bird&f=false
21. ↑ https://www.wingspan.co.nz/extinct\_birds\_of\_prey\_new\_zealand\_haasts\_eagle.html
22. ↑ https://theconversation.com/meet-the-hercules-parrot-from-prehistoric-new-zealand-the-biggest-ever-discovered-121437
23. ↑ https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/greater-rhea
24. ↑ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/g/greater-rhea/
25. ↑ https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Rhea\_(bird)#Individual\_and\_flocking
26. ↑ https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/25/417426469/stealthy-giant-rhea-eludes-police-in-u-k
27. ↑ https://www.dw.com/en/giant-south-american-birds-cause-chaos-in-northern-germany/a-46760753
28. ↑ https://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/bush\_dog\_facts/1107/
29. ↑ https://study.com/academy/lesson/rhea-bird-facts-lesson-for-kids.html
30. ↑ https://www.postpng.com.pg/collections/view/cassowaries-world-s-most-dangerous-bird
31. ↑ https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/80394/10-facts-about-cassowaries
32. ↑ https://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/cassowary.htm
33. ↑ https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2019/4/why-the-cassowary-is-the-worlds-most-dangerous-bird-568931
34. ↑ https://natureyouscary.weebly.com/blog/the-cassowary-papua-new-guineas-raptors
35. ↑ https://nhpbs.org/wild/Casuariidae.asp#:~:text=Cassowaries%20run%20at%20speeds%20of,and%20cares%20for%20the%20chicks.
36. ↑ https://a-z-animals.com/animals/cassowary/
37. ↑ https://www.echidnawalkabout.com.au/5-amazing-facts-about-emu/#:~:text=Emus%20can%20run%20at%2050km,speed%20of%2071km%20per%20hour.
38. ↑ https://denverzoo.org/animals/emu/
39. ↑ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/describing-someone-birdbrained-misguided-unless-youre-talking-about-emus-180958981/
40. ↑ http://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/emu
41. ↑ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2014/05/22/the-surprising-closest-relative-of-the-huge-elephant-birds/
42. ↑ https://listverse.com/2013/11/08/10-fascinating-cases-of-animal-gigantism-with-replaced-entries/
43. ↑ https://www.zmescience.com/other/feature-post/elephant-bird-largest-bird-ever-0534/
44. ↑ https://www.inverse.com/article/50335-elephant-birds-brains-suggest-they-were-nearly-blind
45. ↑ https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=2iuOBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=elephant+bird+kick&source=bl&ots=MXcYXp3TS8&sig=ACfU3U0qX1kUsiS1DZXTgiWNayPQB6UgiA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi1gKrZh5jqAhWrUN4KHTd9C2IQ6AEwG3oECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=elephant%20bird%20kick&f=false
46. ↑ http://messybeast.com/extinct/moa.htm
47. ↑ https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/elephant-birds-biggest-ever-were-creatures-of-the-night