The Stymphalian Birds are man-eating birds with beaks of bronze, sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims, and poisonous dung. According to Greek mythology, these flying creatures were brought up by the god of war, Ares, or were pets of the goddess of the hunt, Artemis. They bred quickly and swarmed over the countryside, destroying crops and terrorizing the people. Heracles (Hercules) defeated these creatures in his sixth labor by shooting arrows tipped with poisonous blood from the slain monster Lernaean Hydra.
