Austrapede

Austrapede
Species Information
Na'vi name	Tspìng
Habitat	Rivers, riverbeds
Physical Information
Size	4 meters
Skin color	Yellow-orange with purple striping
Eye color	Orange
Behind the Scenes
First seen	Toruk - The First Flight
Last seen	Avatar: Rites of Passage

The Austrapede is a flightless Pandoran bird that looks like a cross between an ostrich, a pink flamingo and the herbivorous dinosaur parasaurolophus.

Anatomy

In Pandora Rising

With its flat, broad beak and long neck and tail, the gentle Austrapede is a relatively small bird by Pandoran standards. It has yellow-orange skin with faint purple striping, a long beak, and a flat tail reaching down to its feet. It has a crest on the back of its head and several antennae-like appendages on its head and neck, though it is unclear which of these are its neural queue(s). Unlike other Pandoran birds and its relative, the great austrapede, the austrapede's wings have shrunken down to small, vestigial appendages. The austrapede is of tall stature, with much of its height made up by its legs and neck.

Behavior

Austrapedes flap their wings when frightened. They may look friendly, but personalities can change in the blink of an eye! The austrapedes are impulsive, fidgety creatures whose emotions spread quickly from one individual to the other by a form of mimicry. However, they generally pose little threat to other creatures, and are sometimes affectionate to Na'vi. There have been instances of Na’vi riding Austrapedes over wetland terrain instead of Direhorses.

They spend their time near Pandoran rivers and riverbeds.

See Also

• Great Austrapede

References

See the image gallery for Austrapede