Bluebolt Raptors

Bluebolt Raptors are birds only in the technical sense. While they have wings, they're not suited to sustained flight, instead the flat, bony, wings are designed to glide at high speed. Similarly, their feathers have evolved a rigidity more reminsicent of a lizard's scales than the plumage seen on other birds. Indeed, most of the Bluebolt's anatomy, from its flat rigid wings to its knifelike beak to its tall, eyeless, narrow skull has evolved to allow this hunter to do what it does best, dive fast.   Bluebolts are heavier than most birds, their anatomy foregoing the light, hollow bones regularly seen on their flying cousins. Instead, their skeleton is dense and sturdy, adapted for high speed impacts. In addition, their leg bones are capable of locking in place, and their metatarsal bone is actually two bones, nested within one another with fluid occupying the gap between them, which acts as a natural hydraulic shock-absorber, allowing them to survive nearly any fall, provided they land on their feet.   Another divergence from typical birds is a pair of gangly arms, tipped with long claws which can be disengaged from the wingplates in order to seize prey, lope across the ground, or clamber, spiderlike, up the craggy cliffs where they make their home.   Bluebolt Raptors have no eyes, instead relying on a parietal gland in the center of their skull for vision. In addition, their wingplates are grooved and lined with a special kind of cell to absorb oxygen when diving.

Bluebolt Raptors mate for life. Upon reaching adulthood, the males will leave their parents' nest and scout for nesting locations. When a suitable location is found, the males will gouge a small tunnel in the cliffside, where they will build a nest from plants and small bones from their prey.   In order to prove themselves to potential mates, the males will attempt to ambush and knock the potential females out of the sky, and then dragging the female back to their nest. The female will resist as hard as she can, pecking and clawing the male until she is placed in his nest, at which point, the female will accept the male as its mate.

Bluebolt Raptors live and reproduce on sheer cliffs, as well as using the drops to pick up gliding speed, and as such, they need them to survive. A Bluebolt habitat is littered with rocklike pellets containing indigestible materials from the Bluebolt's meal. The cliff faces are gouged with ravines and gorges travelled countless times, and dotted near the summit with nesting holes.

Bluebolts are carnivorous raptors. They hunt game as small as field mice and as large as jackals. When a Bluebolt kills its prey, it drags the corpse back to its nesting grounds with its gangly arms.

An axelike beak, which juts from the center of its tall head for about six inches.

Bluebolt Raptors have no eyes, instead hunting through their incredible sense of smell and a parietal eye just above their beak which is sensitive to body temperature.   When diving, oxygen flows into their blood through the specialized membrane in the grooves of their wingplates. This excess oxygen causes their hearts to go into overdrive, which overclocks their senses and reaction times.