Submission (#6430) Approved

EXPLORATION LOG 1035:

I have finally managed to discover an elusive creature native to Bellmoril that was once thought to be myth, even with prior extensive study of mysterious sightings and hypothesized reasonings for such evasiveness. Today I present to you, the Bellmorilite Maple Kite!

Identically to the maples and birches that paint the land in a sea of golden leaves, the Bellmorilite Maple Kite's wings bear a striking yellow circle on on the back of each set of secondary pinions, as well as a single elongated secondary toward where the wings connect to the body. They otherwise blend flawlessly with the white bark of the elder tree with their cream colored bodies. The wing length and structure is as a gull's, narrow and with long pointed primaries in a singular kite-like shape. Speaking of kites, it's no wonder the people of Bellmoril often mistook this bird for one! With a forked tail like a swallow, two long trailing feathers stick out on opposite ends in parallel, soft and twirling about like streamers as they fly.

What I personally find most striking about this bird however, is that their eyes are a milky white, blending perfectly into their ivory feathers and easily cloaking themselves as simple objects or paper crafts stuck among the tree branches. Their mannerisms when landed in trees are shy, they don't move much, leaving their tails to the wind in an attempt to cloak with their surroundings.

It was also discovered that they surprisingly lay their young at the end of winter, and have extremely small clutches, which lends credence to prior observations and the assumption of their rarity. The young Bellmorilite Maple Kites first bear a layer of brown bark-colored feathers that shed to reveal their thinner fluffy white down coats, and then their full set of feathers begin growing in at the first sign of spring.

Some say that they were created by the elder tree itself to keep companions to the leaves during the winter, but I'm not so sure I believe that.