Birds on Pern?

[Goldendragon]

I couldn't remember but did the colonist bring birds with them? And if so, what kinds did they bring?

[ChrisG]

The only specific mention that I recall is in DDawn: From DragonsDawn
On the zoological front, Pol Nietro and Chuck Havers delivered a cautious report on the success of gestations. Some of each big species were progressing well, but the initial turkey eggs had not survived.

~~~

Geese, ducks, and chickens had no problems, and were laying regularly. They were kept in outdoor runs, too valuable yet to be allowed to range free, and the runs were much visited by both adults and children. It took nearly six weeks for the omnivorous wherries, as the EEC team had named the awkward fliers, to discover that new source of food and for hunger to overcome their cautious, though some termed it cowardly, nature. But when they finally attacked, they attacked with a vengeance. There is a later mention of a cock crowing in the stableyard in Ruatha in the beginning of DF, so it seems likely they're still around, just not frequently mentioned.

Dunno about parrots and the like, however, but considering all of the other types of critters they brought, I wouldn't be surprised.

[Goldendragon]

I love parrots and I couldn't think of a world with out my current number of 6 birds. I am studing to become an Ornithologist (bird person) or a Herpentologist (reptile person). I was hopping to maybe have a pernese rp character that had either a crow or parrotlike bird as a companion, but I wanted to see if there were any on Pern first.

[Anareth]

They definitely didn't seem to have brought any songbirds, raptors, ratites (ostrich, rhea, emu--odd as those are food animals usually raised for meat), or really anything but small poultry. If they did bring parrot species, they don't seem to have survived, and there don't seem to be any of the softbill domestics, either. I suppose on the one hand a firelizard's rather like having a somewhat less-intelligent parrot (see the Alex Foundation--greys at least are about as smart as dolphins or chimps and don't need sci-fi to learn to speak) and so it's not really a loss to the 'pet trade', but on the other hand I'd hate living on a planet without songbirds or really any birds.

[Hans]

Hmm... they did have down from ...? What kind of birds?
And, now i found the quote... Turn's End Birds? Kind of like a turkey at Thanksgiving?

From RSR/DE:


The worn pillows had been replaced with plump ones. Because Tisha said you'd need to sit real soft for a while longer,' and Z'gal sniggered into his hand. Lady Salda let us have feathers from the Turn's End birds."

[ChrisG]

Wher-hide is sometimes referred to as being downy: From The White Dragon
Jaxom rushed to the window and peered out, catching a glimpse of huge wings as the newcomers settled into the great courtyard. He didn’t wait long enough to see the Benden dragons remove themselves to the fire-heights, accompanied by excited fairs of fire-lizards. Drying himself hurriedly, he wriggled out of his wet trousers. It didn’t take him long to don his good new clothes and stamp into the boots made especially for this occasion and lined with downy wherry-hide for warmth in flight. Recent practice made it easy for him to rig the riding straps on the eager little dragon. And again here: From Dragon Singer
“Menolly! I’ve got ’em for you,” he shouted across the courtyard, waving an oddly shaped mass above his head. He spoke to his companions, who continued onward to the steps of the Hall where Domick, Talmor and Sebell waited to greet the dragonmen. T’gellan then strode at an oblique angle toward Menolly. As he neared her, she realized that he carried a pair of boots by their laces: boots tanned blue with cuffs of blue-hued wild wherry down.

[Mausey]

Downy could simple refer to the texture of the leather. Some suede has a downy feel to it as does chamois. I can see boots being lined with a fine, thin leather for comfort.

[Hans]

Mausey, we are talking filling for a cushion here! :D

And Chris, virtually all other quotes mentioning either bird or birds or pertaning to wherries of a spaceship :)

[Goldendragon]

When they are talking about wher-hide I always asumed they were talking about wherries actually. And wherries do have feathers, am I right?

[Larry O-G]

:darkside: Who knows what survived in the southern lands while everyone was up north - the lions sure did. :banghead:

[AnnMarie]

Wherries are native Pern avians, named for their resemblance to some sort of barge It's in DD. But birds as we know them? No, I don't think so.

[Goldendragon]

I know wherries are not birds eventhough the picture in DLG really resembles one.

[Jozell]

In Skies of Pern there are several mentions of 'avians' but nothing more descriptive than that.

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

I know that the DLG is somewhat unreliable, but it says there that chickens, geese, ducks, doves and pigeons were successfully hatched on Pern, but the only ones surviving in modern Pern are chickens and geese, but only in the warmest holds and where they are protected by wherries. Very few ducks remain.

[see'r]

check the first fall chronicles (i don't have mine handy). wherries are described in one of the stories in there - and sounded rather bird like to me, if i'm remembering correctly - along with the aforementioned barge, it seems like turkey's were used in a comparison to the wherries as well?

[Anareth]

You're probably thinking of the first one, "Survey", where the people have Earth as a basis for comparison. In any case the wherries are bird-LIKE, but they aren't birds. For starters they're based off the same six-leg structure as the other native Pernese animals. Birds, like pretty much everything on earth, are a four-limbed design.

There just don't seem to be a lot of real Earth birds on Pern. In which case I'm not really sure I'd want to go.

[BD1]

I know that the DLG is somewhat unreliable, but it says there that chickens, geese, ducks, doves and pigeons were successfully hatched on Pern, but the only ones surviving in modern Pern are chickens and geese, but only in the warmest holds and where they are protected by wherries.

Protected by wherries??????? :confused: Why would the chickens and geese be protected BY wherries? Wouldn't the wherries EAT the geese and the chickens?

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

Oops! I meant protected FROM wherries. :O my bad.

[see'r]

yeah, anareth, i suspect you're right - perhaps the turkey was the closest resemblance they could think of :)

truth to tell, i'd never actually given it much thought - but now that it's on my mind, i don't remember any comments about anything "normal" to earth - like birdsong? and you'd think, as much as music matters to the society, if there were songbird types, they'd be mentioned?

[Lady Arwyn]

I would think that a "Turn's End bird" was a goose, like a Christmas goose. Native Pernese avians seem to have dragon/bat-like wings, skin/hide stretched over a skeletal frame. The wherries seem to be developing feathers, but aren't there yet.

[Goldendragon]

I have found a quote that kind of sugested that Pern really did have some sort of avian. The following quotes are from Skies of Pern in the prologue. The first is most likely talking about a chicken, but the second one kind of sounds more like a song bird, since chickens or any other pultery know to have been brought aren't really shrill. I just thought it was kind of bizarre that I should run across them in the second reading of the book right after I had posted this thread. They are brief passages, but it is some evidence. I would rather Pern have song birds that be devoid of that wonderful part of this world. I really wouldn't think the settlers wouldn't include birds beside poultry in their DNA stores.

"First he found a basket of avian eggs left on a hook out side a sid boor to the beasthold."

"He was hearing more and more these days, even the shrill song of avians."

[Brenda]

"Avian" simply means "flying creature". It does not mean "feathered creature" or even "feathered flying creature". I think the wherries are the avians mentioned most often, and they do have some downy kind of fluff but not much and no real feathers.

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

yes, wherries were covered thickly with 'proto-feathers' in other words, down. But no real feathers. But too bad, Pern would have been a bit more colorful with some tropical birds.

[DuchessPariah]

*le sigh* The members of my Weyr council had this discussion, eliminating falcons and hawks from creatures that would have been brought over to Pern. I was very sad. *grins widely*

*mutters through the side of her mouth* Nice slip, Bronze-Dragonrider. ;) You brought BD1's world crashing to a halt. He/She was projecting so loud, I heard the terror that he/she had been misreading the books all of this time. *gasp* *shock* j/K

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

Hehe, I guess that was one of the more funny slips. They happen all the time, but usually they look just silly :erm: :faint:

[ChrisG]

Stumbled across this while answering another question about Threadfall at night: From Messages from Anne McCaffrey (http://www.dragonridersclub.com/drmain/ammsg.html)
REGARDING ANIMALS ON PERN
"Vermin were not included in the colonists' manifest - save for a few laboratory mice. Of course, some of them could have escaped in the manner of such creatures...but I've had no occasion to mention them since tunnel snakes, a genus with an immense number of examples, do the same work as scavengers.

"No rabbits, considering the damage such could do without predators as the Australians discovered. And no Terran birds since the E&E folk noticed avians and did not care to jeopardize the life form with unnecessary competition. Most Pernese avian life forms did not make it past the first few Passes of Thread, not being sensible enough to find refuge or develop a defense as did the fire-lizards and wherries.

"Have a good new Year. Ciao"

--from Anne McCaffrey in response to an email from DragonRiders member Mary Jane Dameron, received 2-Jan-1998

[Lady Arwyn]

In my fandom club the FSP returned and made a right mess of things. They decided they wanted a "ClubPern"and brought in all kinds of animals, from cattle to birds (especially birds of prey and songbirds.. "decorative" stuff), resulting in a plague that wiped out wherries. We had "fun" dealing with the fallout, thus our fandom Pern doesn't resemble Anne's Pern much anymore.

BTW, we kicked the FSP out on their collective arses.

[yuan]

Hi there
There seems to be some sort of chickens, or avians that lay eggs.
I seem to recall there being some larger sort of domestic fowl. Í think it´s in TWD, Jaxom is out checking some minor holder, and there´s some sort of flock there. (don´t have the book for reference) I get the impression that they are between a turkey and an ostritch in size. They could be some kind of domesticated wherry....

[Ryuu]

Isn't there a mention of canaries in Dragon's kin? Did they die out & their function replaced by the Whers, or do they suppliment the modified natives?

[Brenda]

Interesting that Anne says there were NO BIRDS brought to Pern, when one of the important scenes in DD was the fire lizards fighting off the wherries that were attacking the chickens.

[Ryuu]

that's probably just a cultural-rosebud on Anne's part. She, like me, probably didn't consider chickens & thanksgiving turkeys to be "real birds" since they don't fly :evil:

**fondly remembers the "Turkey giveaway" hosted by WKRP, when Les Nessman unloaded a helicoptor full of turkeys & to the horror or his co-workers, describes the carnage!**

[Tygress]

Was just reading the survey story in CoP:FF and there is mention of colorful small avians, and this is before they encounter the firelizards. I remember because I was asking myself "what are they seeing?" Then again it's not the only creature referenced in the story that we don't hear about in the main pern storyline. I'd give a quote but I don't have the book on me; it's the one I leave at work to read on breaks :)

[ChrisG]

The survey team did see wherries and fire lizards … but I’m not too sure what the brilliantly plumed smaller fliers are. From The Survey P.E.R.N.
There were two identifiable types of the large avians, with raucous calls and the aggressive manners of predators; brilliantly plumed smaller fliers, a thousand types of what Shavva called "creepy-crawlies," both inland and littoral. They had also found eggshells on southern beaches, shards littering what were apparently sand-buried nests. Of the egg layers, or the previous occupants, there were no signs.

~~~

Later that night they were all enticed from their camp by the sound of cheeping and chittering. Parting the lush foliage that surrounded them, they peered out at an astonishing scene. Graceful creatures, totally different from the awkward avians seen in the southern hemisphere, were performing aerial acrobatics of astonishing complexity. The setting sun sparkled off green, blue, brown, bronze, and golden backs, and translucent wings glistened like airborne jewels. Another indirect reference to the lack of avians is in DSong: From DragonSong
“The lads say you saw fire lizards there once.” Elgion found the words out of his mouth before he could censor them.
Alemi shot him a long amused look. “Let’s say I can’t think what else it could’ve been. They weren’t wherries: too fast, too small, and wherries can’t maneuver that way. But fire lizards?” He laughed and shrugged his shoulders, indicating his own skepticism. Alemi was more prepared to believe that he was seeing some at-that-time fictional creatures than some sort of seagull.

I’m still looking for any sign of Ryuu’s canary. Here birdy birdy birdy. Tweet tweet.

[ChrisG]

Okay, Ryuu sent me on a wild goose chase... :erm: an untamed fire-lizard hunt, as there are no canaries in DKin, or anywhere else that I can think of. There is, however, mention of a morning chorus and a couple mentions of cocks crowing.

[Ryuu]

oops..:sorry:..maybe it was just a mention of a lost species?? or legends carried over from Terra??? :blush:

[Tygress]

Thank you ChrisG for finding the Survey references I was thinking of :)