Passerine · Recommended

A storm was rolling over the ridge, bringing with it the "Great Silence." Kibble could feel it in his hollow bones. The barometric pressure was dropping, silencing the dawn chorus. Usually, the forest was a riot of complex syntax—the warblers tracing melodies, the thrushes harmonizing. But the storm had sucked the music out of the world.

: Mostly found in the Neotropics (e.g., flycatchers, antbirds). passerine

He launched himself from the aspen. He did not fly with the heavy, lumbering beats of a game bird. He possessed the passerine’s gift: short, rounded wings that allowed for bursts of insane acceleration and acrobatic twists. He dove, not away, but toward the thicket. A storm was rolling over the ridge, bringing

: They are divided into two main groups based on the complexity of their vocal muscles. But the storm had sucked the music out of the world

He nudged the fledgling, demonstrating the lock. Three forward, one back. Trust the tendon. The fledgling instinctively tightened its hold. They were two little balls of feathers, anchored against the gale.