Rubytail

Rubytails are hawks, raptors bearing physical similarities to eagles but smaller in size with wingspans of up to 5ft. Their plumage is dark brown above and white-ish below, with dark hooked beak and a distinctive red tail. The cry of the Rubytail is a shrill, piercing scream, said by many to be the essence of a raptor’s cry.

The Rubytail prefers to soar slowly in flight watching for prey, or to hunt from a high perch where it can spot prey and swoop down to pin them against the ground with talons and devour them. Its favoured prey are rodents, though it also preys on birds and lizards, and will sometimes eat fish or insects if opportunity presents. Rubytails have been spotted taking prey more than twice their size, such as Whiteplume Seven-faced Birds in the Northeast. Pairs and groups of Rubytails often hunt together, and in Riverspeak they are known as ‘Skywolves’ for their complex pack tactics.

Rubytails are found across Creation. They are the most common birds used in falconry, strong hunters able to coordinate though unlike other birds they resist training to hand over their kills to their falconers, instead requiring the falconer to trade an offering of meat for their kills.

Amongst the Linowan and some other Eastern tribes, the feathers of the Rubytail have been adopted as a ceremonial symbol for the representatives of the Realm.