Pet Facts



Nokwi Facts

Surprisingly adept at mimicry, Nokwi in the wild use this skill as an intimidation tactic. Nokwi are fierce little balls of temper, but when their feisty personalities can't scare a predator away, wild Nokwi will quickly scramble on top of each other's backs as high as they can. Using their sturdy legs for support they'll make a big pile of fluffy bodies as large as they can manage and mimic loud roars and cries to frighten and confuse whatever is harassing them.

Clever Nokwi also use their mimicry capabilities for all kinds of tricks. They've been observed to sneak up behind napping creatures in furtive groups then, on signal, mimic thunder and startle the sleeper into flight. They find this hilarious and fall over themselves with humor, showing their pleasure by rolling around in the dust and throwing it up in the air with their legs.

Nokwi understand the concept of laughter, and definitely have a sense of humor, but do not have a laughing noise in their natural vocal arsenal. Instead they use mimicked laughter from their owners or other sounds which they have picked up from other creatures. Sometimes, groups of Nokwi can be found who all seem to have agreed on a sound for laughter and substituted it into their vocalizations as such. One famous example was a group of pet shop Nokwi that had adopted the sound of clapping to substitute for laughing. Every time they found something funny, the whole group would burst into a round of applause, much to the delight of the shop owners.

Nokwi live in more arid climates (though never in outright deserts) and are hardy little creatures that subsist mainly on burrowing insects that they pick out of holes, or quick little lizards they can run down and stab with their sharp beaks. For water, they use their feathers as dew-catchers and stand fluffed out as much as they can in the early morning to collect the moisture on specially developed outer feathers. Combing through their dewed feathers with their beaks provides enough water for them, but they will of course supplement it with juicy vegetation or standing puddles if given the opportunity.

Their normal bright-green coloration might, at first glance, seem quite out of place for their habitat, but it's actually very useful to the Nokwi. When coupled with the Nokwi's habit of rolling about in the dust for various reasons, the green can easily become a dulled shade of grayish-green, perfect camouflage for their environment. By spending just a little time cleaning themselves off, Nokwi can use their bright coloration to attract the leaf-loving lizards they're partial to eating.

As nest-builders, Nokwi leave something to be desired. Both male and female Nokwi help make the nest (though it's more an awkward pile of sticks more than anything else) and they fight about it the whole time. They bring back twigs and bits of brush to use but inevitably end up trying to arrange the bit that their partner is working on, leading to squabble after squabble. In the end, Nokwi nests are more like messy platforms of dead plant material than actual nests, and the parents are usually huffy about it for days.

When it comes to sociability, Nokwi are quite unusual - bickering seems to be their mode of communication. Swaggering and posing are arts every Nokwi has perfected right from the egg, and they live in loose, gregarious groups of congenial anarchy called skeins. When not off finding food, Nokwi spend their time picking on each other: playing pranks, bickering, fighting and rolling around in the dust. To an outsider they may at first appear an extremely tough and rowdy bunch, especially for their size, but for the Nokwi it's the natural way to behave. Though it may seem counter-intuitive, the constant bickering and fighting actually strengthens rather than weakens their community bonds as a skein.

Nokwi are relentless, ornery fighters, and pack much more force and determination than their little bodies look as though they could hold. When Nokwi fight with each other (a common occurrence) they use a method of kicking and wrestling that is as unusual as it is fascinating to watch. They try their best to push their opponent into the dust and roll them around in it, using whatever means necessary. Often, they'll surprise attack another Nokwi by running full speed into it, and knocking it off its feet, or by jumping on its back to try to unbalance it.

If a single Nokwi is fearless, in a group they're downright incorrigible, and even large predators think twice about taking on large skeins of riled up Nokwi. When attempting to threaten creatures larger than themselves, Nokwi abandon the 'wrestling' strategy and employ their claws and beaks as their main offensive weapons. They will also kick up dust with their feet to try to blind the attacker, or to hide themselves in a form of smokescreen.

Nokwi young are bopped and bullied around just as much as any other Nokwi in the skein, and they learn fast how to avoid it or retaliate. Although this makes Nokwi seem cold-hearted, they're generally quite bright, and curious creatures that are always ready to indulge in their sense of humor and prankster heart. When they're not bickering and yammering at each other, that is.


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