Fearow (Spearow)
Anhinga magnarostra pacifica
Overview
Fearow are often overlooked by trainers. While it is true that they lack the raw power of toucannon or braviary, the intelligence of honchkrow or xatu, or the durability of mandibuzz or skarmory, fearow have a niche. Most of the strongest birds in this guide are difficult to obtain or raise. Fearow are common, tame, and reasonably powerful and intelligent. Quite simply, they are a good enough choice that will pull their weight until the fourth island while causing minimal problems.
Physiology
Both evolutionary stages are considered dual normal- and flying-type pokémon.
Spearow are small birds with long featherless legs. The stomach feathers are white. The feathers on their head and back are primarily dark brown with red stripe patterns. The beaks are somewhat longer than the average bird their size. Spearow are most famous for the loud whistles they use to communicate with each other.
Fearow have longer legs and wings. The coloration of their wing and back feathers changes to a pattern of white stripes on black feathers. Fearow’s most notable features are their long flexible neck and their sharp beak. These are both employed in hunting fish: the neck lets fearow breathe while standing in deep water and the beak can be used to grab small fish or spear larger ones. The birds have excellent eyesight and hearing to locate their prey. Fearow cannot fly with wet feathers and need to stand still in the sunlight with wings spread out in a semicircle as they dry. Anything that approaches a sunning fearow will be given a warning whistle before receiving a series of powerful stabbing attacks.
Despite being primarily aquatic, fearow do not have waterproof feathers or webbed feet. They are wholly unable to swim and must rely on wading to move through the water. What they lack in swimming ability they more than compensate for in flight. Fearow’s long broad wings are excellent at catching thermals and fearow can dramatically lower their metabolism when they glide. This lets them migrate up to five hundred miles without having to touch the ground or feed.
Fearow can live up to ten years in the wild or twenty in captivity. They often reach wingspans of eight feet and can weigh up to twenty pounds.
Behavior
Spearow primarily live in brush and tall prairies. Farmers with dry soils love spearow because they hunt the insects that plague their crops. Spearow are rather social and form flocks of five to fifteen birds. Both stages are diurnal, although fearow often take midday naps and have brief periods of activity at night. When spearow are not hunting they prefer to take refuge in trees.
Fearow are piscivorous. Unlike the other piscivorous birds in Alola, fearow prefer to hunt in shallow estuarine waters and inland streams. Their main competitor in this role, bewear, are deterred by the prospect of an elementally charged peck. Fearow spend almost all of their time sunning, sleeping or fishing. They live in mated pairs rather than large flocks. While one hunts, the other watches for vikavolt and predators. Both fearow fly into a large tree to sleep at night.
Husbandry
Spearow are relatively easy birds to care for. The bulk of their diet should be made up of insect mixes. Plain popped or unpopped popcorn serves as an effective treat. Dishes of water should be provided once or twice a day. Spearow are diurnal, social birds. They prefer to be out of their pokéball and near their trainer for as much of the day as possible. The first major drawback to this is that spearow, like most birds, have a tendency to defecate when they take off. This means that it is difficult to housebreak them. More importantly for some trainers, spearow tend to stay perched on their trainer until something catches their attention and they fly after it, defecating on their trainer as they do so. The second drawback to having a spearow out of its pokéball is that they are territorial birds that will sometimes attack other pokémon that get too close.
Fearow are less of a hassle in public, but the larger amounts of food they require make them more difficult to care for. Fish should be the core of their diet with periodic additions of tarantulas or other large insects. Coconuts make good training tools and treats as the birds love to stab into them and drink. Some trainers play games with their fearow by throwing a coconut and watching the bird try to strike through it in midair. Dips in water are also good for calming fearow. Natural waters can even provide them with free food. While spearow are tolerant of pokéballs at night, fearow are not and prefer to roost near their trainer. Unfortunately, they are also difficult to housebreak and produce a rather large amount of waste. Stationary trainers are advised not to have carpet installed in their bedrooms.
Spearow require shows of dominance to bond with at first, followed by a slew of battles or games to keep the pokémon entertained. Fearow are best bonded with through displays of kindness and affection. Other birds are useful for enticing either stage to stay and take orders. This makes the line common on bird specialist’s teams. Both stages are quite capable of cleaning themselves and will not require baths.
Illness
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Like many bird species, fearow can be carriers of avian influenza. The disease generally causes no harm to fearow but may kill other birds. Bird-to-human transmission has been documented but is extremely rare if basic sanitary measures are observed. Trainers should thoroughly wash their hands after handling fearow waste. It is difficult to diagnose fearow because of the lack of symptoms. If another bird in the party comes down with avian influenza a more thorough test on the fearow can be conducted.
Avian botulism has been a recurring problem among fearow in Alola. A series of outbreaks between 2004 and 2009 strongly contributed to the Alolan swanna’s numbers plummeting to twelve captive birds, all off the islands. Fearow fared little better, but populations began to recover due to the lack of competition from swanna and the decreased concentration of waterfowl making it more difficult for the pandemic to spread. Trainers should be very mindful of the symptoms of avian botulism such as partial paralysis in the wing and labored breathing. The bird stands a decent chance of survival if the disease is caught early.
Mercury, pesticide, and insecticide concentrations are problems for all piscivorous birds, fearow included. These symptoms can be best avoided by limiting the pokémon’s ability to feed in the wild, or at least to feed near agricultural or industrial sites. High concentrations of toxic chemicals tend to cause problems in reproduction such as sterility and thin eggshells. They seldom have visible consequences outside of breeding.
Evolution
Spearow gradually transition to fearow. A relatively rapid increase in size occurs between eighteen and thirty months of age. This is the evolution period. The formal demarcation is the replacement of the old coloration of the wing feathers with the black and white pattern of a fearow.
Battle
Fearow sees little use on the competitive scene as professional trainers have the time, experience, and money to invest in stronger birds or flighted dragons.
Spearow are reasonably powerful for their size and are brutal scrappers. They seldom need (or take) orders once they get into the thick of things. This means that they win or lose almost purely by their natural strength rather than the skill of their trainer.
Fearow can be played a little more tactically. The first and most important choice is whether they should take off or stay on the ground. Unlike honchkrow or braviary, fearow do not rely on full body tackles powered by gravity. Instead they primarily attack through beak strikes. In the air fearow are faster and better able to dodge attacks. However, they must get close to attack which leads to a lot of signaling. Wing damage while flying can potentially result in a crash landing or a one-hit knockout. Grounded fearow are slower but often able to use their long neck and beak to zone opposing melee fighters. They can also strike very quickly and are difficult to block. A good rule of thumb is that flight is better against ranged attackers and a grounded stance is better against melee-oriented opponents.
While fearow will struggle on the fourth island they are otherwise quite capable pokémon. Even spearow can hold their own for the first few trials.
Acquisition
Fearow can be found along ponds, rivers, and wetlands in the interior of all four islands, as well as in a few cold-water estuaries such as Kala’e Bay. They are most easily seen in the day. Unlike noivern, sunning fearow are fair game. Trainers pursuing fearow should be advised that the bird probably has a mate that will hound the human who took its partner. For these reasons only spearow are recommended for capture. It is still legal to capture fearow, although it is usually best to capture both mated pokémon or to watch a fearow over the course of several days to make sure that it does not yet have a mate. In addition, spearow can be purchased at some agricultural specialty stores.
Spearow can be purchased, adopted, or captured with a Class I license. Fearow can be purchased, adopted, or captured with a Class II license.
Breeding
Fearow choose mates the first spring after they reach full size. Once bonded, pairs stay together for life. Widows and widowers do not pick new mates.
The male begins building a nest in the early autumn by bringing sticks into the tree and building a skeleton. The female eventually adds in the fine details. Only two or three eggs are laid at a time but mated couples breed every year and survival rates for chicks are rather high. One bird will always be incubating the eggs and the nest is big enough for both parents to stand in. Fearow and spearow make sure to defecate outside of their nest, but they seldom bother to go very far. As such fearow nests often have white rims.
Around their first birthday spearow are taken to a farm or prairie by their parents. The fearow will go back to the marsh and the spearow are left to find others and fend for themselves.
Fearow can be bred in captivity. However, doing so requires staying stationary for several months at a time and accepting that one partner will always be on the nest. Fearow can breed with pelipper and toucannon, although they rarely do so in the wild. If there is another bird on the team of the opposite sex fearow may still bond with it and even mate. No reproductively viable offspring will result. Mated fearow are less attached to their trainer than fearow that are single or in a non-reproductive pairing.
Relatives
Pacific spearow are found across most of the Pacific. Their ability to glide for long distances has let them populate all but the most remote islands. They do not need fresh water if there are coconuts available within flying distance. This lets fearow populate even fairly small islands without a water table.
Despite being closely related to waterfowl and shorebirds, the Eurasian fearow (A. m. agris) seldom goes near the water. Upon evolution, fearow keep much the same color scheme as their juvenile stage. The Eurasian fearow must compete with pidgeot. This causes the fearow to stay near the fields where they lived as spearow. They use their sensitive hearing to listen for bugs and their beak to stab through trees or earth to snap them up. Because they share their range, fearow continue to watch out after their offspring until and even after evolution.
The Florida fearow (A. aureum) was driven to the brink of extinction by a combination of DDT, an oil spill, and mercury poisoning in the 1960s. They are golden in color and slightly larger than the Pacific fearow. This species has an unusual habit of building an elevated nest on top of a bibarel dam. This protects them from purely terrestrial or aquatic predators. Conservation efforts and the banning of DDT has led to a partial rebound across their range. They are migratory birds that spend their summers as far north as Unova before overwintering in Florida.