| Class: | Realistic Bird |
| Hab: | Any woodlands, dry or wet |
| Fre: | Uncommon |
| Num: | 10-1,000 |
| Lair: | 80% |
| Size: | 6'-8' tall, 100 pounds |
| Move: | Clumsy walk or brachiation, good flight is agile among branches |
| Def: | Fair dodge |
| Att: | Lance-like harpoon beaks |
| Int: | Simple beast |
| Spec: | Communal defense of nests |
| Posns: | Guano prized by gardeners |
Hanging Cranes
Hanging cranes are arboreal. They hang in wait, suspended inverted in the trees, legs crooked and necks folded. When prey passes by, the legs and neck straighten and the harpoon-like beak is thrust, forcefully spearing the prey. Struggling prey may be lifted and dropped - repeatedly.
Flocks of hanging cranes display excellent pack hunting techniques, but otherwise are only average birdbrains. If hanging cranes receive more than 50% damage, they will crook their legs and then spring away, launched into a rapid retreat flight; they will generally regroup close by but at a safe height, to observe whether their prey is sufficiently weakened to be worth pursuing.
Usually, the females hang in a hunting perimeter around the nesting area. The males usually rotating between 2-6 different hunting grounds within the territory, fly out to a different one each day.
The nests are great woven structures lodged in a ring of trees set about a sunny glade of leafless, dead trees. The inner trees are dead because of the birds' copious droppings. The sunlight and sweet vegetation in the well-manured glade attracts woodland creatures, drawing them towards the females' perimeter hunting stations.
Should a nest be disturbed, the females will rally to harass the intruders. Their great clacking racket soon attracts the males, who are far bolder; while a female will only fight to the death to defend its own nest, retreating if severely injured (over 50% damage) when defending a neighbor's, the males will fight until 90% damaged while defending any nest in the colony.
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