Stymphalian Bird

**Stymphalian Birds** are bloodthirsty carnivorous birds that fly above swampy environments and fire metallic feathers at their prey.

## Appearance

Stymphalian birds have the general appearance of a bird of prey, with massive, feathery wings, powerful legs with 4 prehensile, talon-tipped toes on each foot, a small body, a small head with a crown of short feathers as well as a large, curved beak, and a large feathery tail fan. However, unlike any bird of prey, their beak is made of a metallic substance; as well as this, their feathers are made out of bronze, and can be launched from their wings. Due to their bronze feathers, their body is a light brown in color, in contrast to their grey beak and legs.

## Spawning

Stymphalian birds are supposed to be found flying around in Swamp biomes, in groups of 3-20, but, due to a bug, they sometimes spawn in other biomes, even in those that aren't even near swamps

## Drops

Upon death, Stymphalian birds drop:

* 2-6 Stymphalian bird feathers .
* 0-4 iron ingots.
* 0-4 iron nuggets.
* 1 Stymphalian bird skull (2.5% chance).
* 0-4 copper ingots.
* 0-4 copper nuggets.

If the OreDictionary contains entries for new ores, then they will drop:

* 0-3 bronze ingots (depending on mods installed; bronze is favored).
* 0-3 bronze nuggets (depending on mods installed; bronze is favored).

## Behavior

Stymphalian birds spawn in groups of 3-20, and are naturally hostile to players, villagers, and animals; they are able to spot targets from 64 blocks away. When attacking, Stymphalian birds will fly down from the sky and towards their target before firing a volley of metallic feathers that do 0.5 hearts (1 HP) of damage with each hit; if their target manages to get past the barrage of feathers and comes in close proximity to them, the birds will land on the ground and start biting them with their beaks, with each bite dealing 2 hearts (4 HP) of damage. Once a player kills one Stymphalian bird, the rest will flee from their usurper, often times taking flight to achieve this purpose.

### Combat

It is suggested that one should wear Troll Leather Armor or any other armor enchanted with Projectile Protection before taking on a flock of Stymphalian birds, as the armor will mitigate the damage done by Stymphalian birds' feathers; a shield completely negates the damage done by the feathers, but it cannot fend off attacks from behind. As well as this, since the birds often fly high above their targets, a bow with many arrows is necessary, as the player will be able to snipe them down should they be completely out of melee range.

## History

* 1.5.0:
	+ Introduced.
* 1.5.1:
	+ Can no longer despawn.
* 1.5.2:
	+ Animals and NPCs now flee from Stymphalian birds.
	+ Taste for animals can now be disabled through the config.
	+ No longer lands on the water.
* 1.6.0:
	+ Can now draw drops from a configurable loot table.
	+ Health has been nerfed from 30 HP to 24 HP.
	+ Now despawns on Peaceful.
* 1.6.1:
	+ Added a config option for how often Stymphalian bird feathers turn into items.
* 1.8.0:
	+ Now associated with two new Legendary Weapons: the Stymphalian Bird Dagger and the Stymphalian Bird Feather Bundle .
	+ Now occasionally drops a placeable skull .
	+ Amount of experience dropped upon death has been rebalanced.
* 1.9.0:
	+ Idle animations are now smoother.

## Trivia

After staying on the ground for a while, Stymphalian bird feathers will despawn and turn into items, allowing the player to pick them up and use them to craft Stymphalian Arrows or smelt bronze/copper nuggets (if they have mods that add bronze or copper installed).

* There is a bug where Stymphalian birds would not be able to spawn.