A Random Book of Randomness

CH Headcanon: Wings pt 2

(I felt that I needed to make another one of these because a lot of interesting concepts have been added to winged countries that I think people should know about.)  

This time we will be focusing on the behaviors and instincts of winged countries.  Like previously mentioned, countries with animal body parts tend to share certain instincts with said animals, and that applies to winged countries too.

One behavior a winged country shares with a bird is mating rituals.  For birds, the male bird will try to attract a mate by singing, dancing, or nest decorating, and this will sometimes occur with winged countries.

For singing, winged countries will typically mimic bird calls, which may sound weird but a winged country's voice box is built to be able to do this, so while a wingless country would sound stupid trying to make bird calls, winged countries can accurately mimic anything from at songbird tweet to a raptor hunting screech.

Dancing is a bit awkward for winged countries since it consists of wing flaring and tail feather shaking for birds, which the latter a country cannot do.  To compensate for this, winged countries resort to aerial performances, and if two winged countries are competing for the same mate, they will dance in the air together to both show-off for their potential mate, and to assert dominance over the other male.  When two males do this, the male with better maneuverability more often than not is the winner, and the loser will bow their head and lower their wings as a sign of respect and submission to the dominant male, who will, in turn, flare out their wings and make a victory call to let everyone know he is the dominant male and has breeding rights to whoever he chooses (so long as his chosen mate gives consent, of course).

Nest decorating can be quite interesting because winged countries are much larger than normal birds, so it can difficult to create large elaborate nests.  Some things nests will be made of are blankets, pillows, cushions, or anything else comfortable the country can get their hands on.  After the basic nest is built, the country will look for colorful and shiny objects to decorate it with, typically resorting to flowers, jewelry, plushies, and their own feathers.  The male will then sit in the nest and show it off to their potential mate, if the mate likes it, the male will leave it as it is, but if the mate doesn't like it, (which is normally the case because the nests will be constructed in living rooms and bedrooms, and normal countries often won't understand what the winged countries are doing), then the male will tear down the nest and start over.  If another male, whether winged or not, happens upon a nest, then the winged male will flare their wings to make themselves look bigger and make territorial screeches to tell the possible rival to back off.

Another behavior that a winged country will exhibit is becoming calm when their eyes are covered.  In the sport of Falconeering, it is common practice to cover the raptor's eyes with a hood to keep them calm and prevent them from attacking unintended targets.  For a winged country, their reaction to having their eyes covered depends on familiarity with the situation, if it's their first time having their eyes covered they will be confused and try to fight the person, but if it isn't their first time they will immediately become docile.  When the latter has their eyes covered, they will stop being aggressive and slowly lower themselves to the floor to sit, then they will hug their legs and create a tent around them with their wings.  Depending on how long a winged country has their eyes covered, they will typically feel tired when their eyes are uncovered.  This method is typically used on winged militant entities when they are showing signs of falling to Militant Madness because it is a safe and effective way of calming down the militant before they have a chance of going feral.

A behavior that has confused experts for years is something they have dubbed the "Wing Off Switch".  This off switch refers to the way a winged country will seemingly "turn off" when they are touched in the right spot.  This spot is located above both wings where the humerus meets the spine, and if this spot is pressed onto in a certain way the country will go limp and fall over.  No one knows why this off switch exists or what purpose it serves, but studies have shown that when someone presses the spot, a shockwave of ecstasy is triggered in the brain that is so sudden and powerful that the country shuts down from not being able to handle the sensual explosion.  This off switch is seen as a health hazard because if a country is standing and the spot is pressed, they won't be able to catch themselves if they fall and could be seriously harmed.  Thankfully, this spot is virtually unknown to other people and even to the countries themselves, so if the spot is pressed it typically happens when the country is getting a massage and is lying down.

One final behavior that winged countries have is flocking.  As previously mentioned, winged countries have the innate ability to sense when others of their kind are nearby, and it is common for the country to seek out whoever they are feeling.  When there are multiple winged countries in one area, they will tend to group up together and hang out with each other for extended periods of time, and sometimes they will be seen flying together.  When one winged country is being hurt and others are nearby, those bystanders will come to the victim's aid and fend off the assailant by flaring wings and divebombing until the assailant flees.  If the victim has received any bodily injury, several of the strongest countries will stand guard while the other ones treat the victim.  If the victim is fit to fly, they will fly in the middle of the flock and the other countries will match their pace, if the victim can't fly, then the other countries will take turns carrying the injured country to safety.