Shaku

Species name: Shaku
Habitat: snowy mountains (I need to find my map! Can't remember most of the place names )
Appearance: A flightless bird. They stand at one and a half feet tall. The males are light grey with white bellies with a black crest on their heads. The females are pure white but they can occasionally have grey markings on them. They have a small grey tuft on their heads.
They have amber eyes and have yellow pointed beaks. Their wings have a fold in them which allows them to scoop snow and earth away when constructing tunnels.
 Behaviour: Shaku are highly intelligent little birds. They live in large flocks but are rarely seen as they live underground and are extremely good at hiding. 
They do not have an alpha. They work as a collective but still have individual jobs.
Workers gather plants for the nests and hunt. Soldiers guard the burrows and keep a watch for Chor'ra (their main predators). A swarm can overpower a Chor'ra quite easily however they can be picked off just as easily when caught by surprise. They avoid confrontation when they can.
The nursery has four females tending to it at any one time. Two tend to the eggs, turning them and making sure that the nests are well packed. The other two females watch over the chicks and feed them.
Breeders are the strongest of the Shaku. Pairs change every time they mate. 
Offspring: A maximum of 3 eggs can be laid at one time by one female. The gestation period is 2 months and hatching occurs 3 months after that.
The chick’s downy feathers are dark grey which allows them to blend into the rocks. They have yellow eyes which darken as they mature.
 Diet: Shaku eat snow insects and plants.

 Life span: 10-12 years

These are all species for my fantasy series set on Marbane Utha (Dragon world). I started to redesign all the original creatures that I created ten or so years a go. These are still old-ish (this one April 2013) & the info was saved from when I uploaded them to one of my older accounts (probably Roguesbooks). Now they're coming here as I've recently found the motivation to continue the series. Trying to populate an entire planet is very time consuming but it's tons of fun