Caracara Johnny Rook

Johnny Rook, Robber Rook, or Sky Devil

The Johnny rook, a cousin of the more common hawks, may be referred to by scientists as the Striated Caracara Phalcoboenus australis but Falklands locals call it the "sky devil," blaming the rooks for the loss of sheep, adults as well as lambs, as well as the theft of anything not tied down; the sky devils are notorious for prying loose by ingenious means objects one would have through secure.

Of all the raptors, the Johnny rook is probably the most intelligent, as well as the most social. It is possessed of an insatiable curiosity and is compulsive in its drive to thoroughly investigate anything new in its environment, especially if it senses any possibility of gaining food or shiny trinkets. Charles Darwin described them as "very mischievous and inquisitive, quarrelsome and passionate." The resulting effect of these extremely persistent investigations by flocks of one or several dozen rooks is often very destructive; if the ancient Greeks had known Johnny rooks, the Harpies might well have been modeled on them. Curiously, real world Johnny rooks are as fascinated by red objects as by shiny ones, and will go to great lengths to wrest red objects loose and carry them away. Perhaps their attraction to red is based upon blood signaling ready prey.

While under two foot in length, real world Johnny rooks will attack full grown sheep if the sheep have been weakened, such as when caught in brush or a cleft; fantasy Johnny rooks of even normal size will gang up to attack healthy sheep or weakened horse-sized animals, especially if the potential prey has harnesses or other trappings which catch the thieving bandit-birds' attention. Large or giant Johnny rooks are bolder still - and more intelligent.

While striated Johnny rooks are easily tamed, and can learn to understand a surprisingly large vocabulary, they are far too impulsive to be controlled. Anyone with small children or hyperactive cats will understand this behavior.

The largest of Johnny rooks are the mottled Johnny rooks. Flocks of mottled Johnny rooks have been known to dismantle entire villages. While this destructive behavior seems malicious, it is really done through sheer curiosity. Mottled Johnny rooks are able to learn basic speech, and can be taught to speak, sounding much like a gargantuan talking crow, but only a very few sages would classify them as a Folk; they are not capable of passing along knowledge between each other verbally and, while quite bright and endlessly creative, must learn everything by trying it out themselves. While they horde trinkets, their curiosity, which drives them to take things apart, prevents them from building up much of a material culture.

The intelligent Pied Johnny Rook Folk often associate with their more primitive cousins. A family of Pied Rooks may lead a flock of striated or mottled rooks, or a colony of Pieds may keep a few lesser Johnny rooks, as much as pets as as working beasts. Pied Johnny Rooks are barely able to control their own curiosity, let alone that of their cousins.

In more complex, mixed species societies, Pied Johnny Rooks often have a poor reputation; their inquisitiveness often gets them in to trouble. They are sometimes referred to as the Kobolds of the Bird Folk. Others consider Pied Johnny Rook Folk to be the prototype of the typical Delver or Adventurer.

Many Pied Rooks are kleptomaniacs, compulsively pocketing any small object that catches their eye, but only a few can learn the restraint needed for professional subtly.

Similarly, Pied Rook Folk have difficulty resisting exploring; locks, whether on trunks or houses, are an irresistible temptation. Those better able to control their impulses make fine investigators.

While Pied Johnny Rooks make excellent scouts as far as ferreting out information about the countryside is concerned, they are too gleeful about their discoveries for employment in covert operations.

Pied Rooks make good midden heap (trash dump) workers, as they delight in disassembling things. They are excellent at sorting out the trash for recycling, separating out and categorizing every bit of reusable material. Once they have selected choice trinkets, they do not care about others removing the items they have finished exploring.

Pied Rooks can also make good shepards, although they tend to overindulge in feasting at lambing time.

Pied Rooks make fine junktique or flea-market dealers, as they love to collect new items but have limited interest in retaining items they have already investigated. Their pricing tends to be slightly erratic, set as much by personal like for the various items than by market value; they charge more for shiny, glittering, red, or complex, manipulable items and less for simple items, especially those with dull finished and not working parts.

SEE the National Geographic video " "Flying Devil" Birds Make Mayhem 24-7"

SEE also The Hawk Conservancy Trust website's Featured Species pages for a good brief description of a wide range of interesting birds of prey, from various "Owls" to "Others," including the striated caracara or Johnny rook.

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Last update May 9, 2006