Corbae

Corbae are a subset of Animal People, also known as the First People. Those that fall under the Corbae umbrella are all birds, but not all birds are Corbae. The term Corbae refers to those whose animal skin is one of the birds of the Corvidae family, which in scientific classification encompasses nine separate genera, and over a hundred and twenty species, including crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, magpies, and jays.

The Corbae reflect the natures typical to their avian "little cousins," being generally playful and tending toward strong organization within community groups; in nature, many corvid species even breed cooperatively, with "helper" adults assisting in the raising of nestlings. They are also (again, generally) fond of humans, which mirrors their little cousins' habit of thriving in direct relation to their proximity to human habitations, unlike the majority of other animal and bird species, which tend to see a reduction in population as human settlement encroaches. Studies show that crows are most positively affected by human proximity, whereas Ravens, for example, tend to nest in the larger trees of dense forests and therefore have less access to the benefits of human presence - namely, the presence of human-produced foods and roadkill. Crows are also aided in this by their use of social learning within their culture, which allows them to pass down learned information from one generation to the next. The Corvid species have the largest body size to brain size ratio of any bird, and laboratory experimentation has proven them to be of an intelligence rivalling that of chimpanzees.

Like all Animal People, the Corbae have two shapes, or "skins," one human and one avian. As with other Animal People, they can fine-tune the details of their human appearance, changing their apparent age and overall look. Presumably, they can do the same with their bird skins.

Corbae of Note

Residents of The Rookery

Raven

The Crow Girls

Chloe

Annie Blue

The Aunts

Brandon Cole

Other Corbae

Jack Daw

Margaret

The Wild Crow Boys