Allospiziformes

Brian Choo

Otherworld finches, cityfinches, crackers, & outlaws are the dominant small-bodied seed-eating birds of Specworld. Together with the odd parrothawks and the Specworld parrots, they comprise an estimated 2,300 species worldwide in 19 major groups. Allospiziform anatomy shares many convergent similarities with the finches, parrots, and cuckoos of our timeline, so it is no wonder that that the true affinities of this group were long overlooked. While they were once classified as neognaths somewhere between the parrots and pigeons of Home Earth, subsequent study has shown that the allospiziforms are not parrots, pigeons, neognaths, or indeed any kind of neornithian birds at all. Instead, the allospiziforms are part of the ancient and strange clade Enantiorniths, as evidenced by their shoulder joints and relatively slow metabolisms. Allied to the false panha and the tweetybirds, Allospiziformes probably traces its lineage back to something like the late Cretaceous †Gobipteryx, an Asian enantiornith with a strong, toothless beak.
Otherworld finches and their kin can be found on every continent (one species makes an incredible annual migration from South America to the Antarctic island of South Georgia) and most oceanic islands. The majority of species feed on seeds, nuts and fruits, with a few insects thrown into the mix (especially the young eat lots of insects and spiders).
Allospiziforms are tiny to medium-sized birds with zygodactylous feet (both the first and the fourth toes point backwards). The beak is usually stout and triangular and, as in parrots, the upper beak has a hinge-like articulation with the rest of the skull, allowing it to be lifted independently to a greater degree than usual among birds. Unlike parrots, allospiziforms possess a well-developed caecum and a small cartilaginous tongue – although this has changed in the parrothawks and Specworld parrots – as well as having fewer neck vertebrae than normal (12 – 13).
ALLOSPIZIDAE (Specworld finches)

Allospizids, the Specworld or otherworld finches, are small, dumpy birds and usually posses a robust parrot-like bill for cracking seeds. The 200 or so species in this family can be found throughout Africa and the entire Northern Hemisphere south of the Arctic. They build intricate, cup-like nests and have a melodious, chirruping song.

When searching for fresh food-supplies, vast nomadic clouds of these tiny allospiziforms darken the skies over the African plains. When threatened by aerial predators on the wing they form a dense, globular structure. Flying humbugs generally feed on tall, seeding grasses as well as flying insects.

(fig. 1) Flying humbug, Avidascyllus bicolor (African savannas)

The painted pfiffle (Falleravis splendens) is one of the most beautiful allospizian species to dwell in North America. Males sport vivid black, orange, and red plumage to attract mates, and are easily recognized from a distance. Subadult and adult painted pfiffles feed exclusively on large seeds, which they crack open with their powerful bills; juveniles prefer small seeds and insects.

Like all pfiffles, this species is migratory, flying to and from its winter feeding grounds in South America every year to nest in the deciduous forests of eastern North America. Females migrate a few weeks ahead of the males, giving them time to construct or renovate their future homes. These bag-shaped nests, made of grass and sticks covered with a mud-and-saliva mixture, are nearly indestructible, and a female will come back to her nest year after year, making repairs as her abode wears out. This method of home-making is common among the allospiziforms, and is taken to extreme by the African cityfinches (see below). Unlike their distant cousins, however, pfiffles do not enlarge their nests past their original size, and a nest is usually abandoned after its maker dies.
(fig. 2) Two adult males and an adult female painted pfiffle (Falleravis splendens) around a nest on a tulip tree, p-Liriodendron paratulipifera (Eastern North America)

CIVILISPIZIDAE (Cityfinches)

The most remarkable of the allospizians, the cityfinches are the closest either of our universes has come to creating eusocial birds on par with ants and bees. The family contains about 50 species and is restricted to Africa and Madagascar. Cityfinches eat primarily grass seeds and other grains, and most species dwell in permanent colonies or cities, many rivalling human settlements in their population density and relative size. Most cityfinch species dwell in permanent colonies or cities. Many forms exhibit extreme sexual dimorphism, the result of the different sexes performing differing functions in cityfinch society.

See Cities of Birds

Brian Choo

The most primitive of the cityfinches, Alfred's hitchcocks display a less pronounced degree of dimorphism between the two sexes. However, this species creates the largest cities and displays the highest degree of aggression in their defense.

A hitchcock city begins as a globular structure with a single entryway built of mud, twigs, droppings and saliva in the branches of a tree in the savannah. As the colony grows, additional chambers and entrances are built and the city soon fills most of the lower branches and eventually extending down the trunk towards the ground. Fully-grown cities completely obscure the shape of their long dead host-tree and resemble great clay skyscrapers growing out of the ground. Such a colony may be over 2 centuries old, and may contain over a thousand birds.

Each large city is a maze of tunnels, nest chambers, nurseries and storage facilities. Some chambers act as gardens where the birds harvest fungi grown from refuse. Actively utilized chambers are generally restricted to the outer 2 metres of the colony.

The fanaticism with which hitchocks defend their cities is nothing short of terrifying. Unlike other species, scouts and serfs will also engage enemies in combat. Normally intruders are seen off with swooping displays. However, the high-pitched distress calls emitted by injured or dying birds seems to send the entire colony into a state of bloodlust, with birds murderously attacking any non-hitchcock within a 100 m radius of the colony. The warbirds secrete a toxin in their saliva which produces painful sores on the skin when pecked.

(fig. 3) Adult alfreds hitchcocks, Theornis alfredhitchcocki (African savannas)

If provoked by a large animal, the birds swarm upon the unfortunate beast in a frenzied, uncoordinated attack with little regards for their individual safety. There is one documented case of an old, crippled molok which stumbled into a large hitchock city, caving in one side of the colony and immediately incurring a warbird attack. Panicked and confused, the theropod blundered into the colony again, tripped, fell and was immediately consumed in a cloud of furious birds, its agonized cries audible above the din of screeches.
The attack petered out in about 20 minutes and the molok's carcass was examined while keeping a watchful eye (and flamethrower) on the blood-drenched warbirds which glared down at the researchers while serfs began to repair the damaged colony. Both the theropod's eyes had been pecked out and its orbits were filled with dead hitchocks as were its nostrils, ears and colon.

(fig. 4) Colony of Alfred Hitchcock's thebirds, Theornis alfredhitchcocki, around a dead blue-green manglar, Neocheirolepis cyanochloris (East Africa)

A common cityfinch species in woodlands and open forest throughout Southern Africa, the pincerbeak (Civilispiza ceratias) lives in colonies of 20 – 60 birds. The colonial structure is built in the branches of a tree or shrub and consists of a series of interconnected open cup/bowl-shaped mud structures covered in "roofs" of thatching.

The sharp extensions on the warbirds' beak are formidable weapons. However, they are also used as "tongs" when moving eggs.

(fig. 6) Adult pincerbeaks, Civilispiza ceratias (Southern Africa) (fig. 7) Colony of pincerbeaks

(fig. 8) Adult Comoros staghorn-birds, Molochavis comorensis (Comoros)

One of the largest cityfinches, the Comoros staghorn-bird (Molochavis comorensis) is restricted to the Comoros islands where it is one of the most common non-seabirds in residence. The species is unique in building colonies directly on the ground with subterranean chambers. Staghorn cities are built at the bases of large trees and consist of a series of domed mud/clay structures aboveground connected by a series of underground tunnels amongst the roots of the tree. Such colonies generally contain about 10 – 30 adult birds.

The quail-like warbirds spend most of their time on the ground, their extraordinary beaks imposing a hefty aerodynamic penalty. They are incapable of feeding themselves and must be tended to by serfs and returning scouts. Their natural enemies on the islands include large lizards, tenrecs and predatory seabirds. When threatened, the warbirds retreat tailfirst into the entrances, leaving their formidable beaks protruding.

(fig. 9) Colony of Comoros staghorn-birds, Molochavis comorensis (Comoros)

PSITTACORAPTORIDAE (Parrothawks)

The parrothawks are heavily built allospiziforms with large, hooked beaks. Their name is a bit misleading as these birds a generalist omnivores rather than dedicated predators, feeding upon fruit, nuts, eggs and small animals. This African group contains about a dozen species, mostly restricted to tropical rainforests.

So named because of its crest of "grey hairs", the ancient parrothawk lives in mangroves and dense lowland rainforest, usually amongst the lower branches and stilt/buttress roots. Its screeching cry usually gives away its position long before the bird can be seen.
This parrothawk feeds on insects and small vertebrates as well as fallen fruit.

(fig. 10) Ancient parrothawk, Psittacoraptor priscus (Niger delta)

APATOPSITTACIFORMES (Otherworld parrots)
The warmer areas all over the globe harbor many birds that look like parrots, climb like parrots, fly like parrots, and behave like parrots, but are in fact, not parrots. If it were not for the recent discovery of the parrothawks (and one genetic study only recently published), they would still be considered parrots. Indeed, only a few skeletal details (such as the famous shoulder joint) make it clear that they are not parrots but opposite birds, more precisely, allospiziforms.

(fig. 11) Long-tailed ground parrot, Geobates pachyrhynchus, and Lowland keetraider, Diablornis psittaphagus psittaphagus (Aotearoa – North Island)

Brian Choo and David Marjanović

                                    ,=Avidascyllus bicolor (Flying humbug)
                   ,=Allospizidae=|
                   |              `=Falleravis splendens (Painted pfiffle)
                   ,=|

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