Avian

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Avian character

An avian is a bird or bird-like character, and/or person who generally identifies with said phenotype. As characters, this includes real birds, anthropomorphic birds, fantasy birds, and bird variants such as gryphons or cockatrices.

Avians in furry

Anthropomorphic avians can be broadly classed as either bird- or gryphon-anthropomorph. The differences between mammal and bird anatomy can result in difficult questions when designing an anthropomorphic character.

Anatomical features

• Arms: In real birds, wings are extended forelimbs with long, strong feathers, meaning that a direct anthropomorphization would result in a being with wings instead of arms. There are three main ways around this:
  • 'Toony' wings, in which the wing feathers double as fingers. This is frequently seen in cartoons, but is very unrealistic.
  • Normal wings, in which the character posseses regular bird wings, which is most possibly the most popular option.
  • 'Wing arms', which are wings modified into arms. This takes into account the wing's evolutionary history as a forelimb, which often shows claws on wings. This feature can be seen today in a vestigial form, in the hoatzin.
  • Back-mounted wings, and arms; this is the second most popular option, as it enables flight and dexterity, but that can also be achived by all other options as birds grip onto objects with their feet and talons.

• Legs:
  • Most real avian legs bend backwards at the knee, making them an extreme form of digitigrade; this is not normally reflected in anthro avians, although when they are used the foot proportions are normally modified to be closer to human-like proportions.

Sexual anatomy and reproduction

• Male
  • Some male avians have a phallus, including include ostrich, emu, rhea, ducks, geese and swans. However, many artists draw anthropomorphic avian characters with a phallus regardless of species. Less ambiguity is a major advantage of gryphons, in which the rear half is not avian.

• Female
  • Breasts on females? These are often the only clear indication of gender, but real birds, not being mammals, lack them.
  • Oviposition is the avian process of laying eggs for (normally) reproduction (a process shared by Scalies, Fish and Monotremes).