Moths - Warp Stalkers - Crocolisks - Monkeys - Wolves - Core Hounds - Wasps - Dragonhawks - Turtles - Boars
Random pet family appreciation thread is where I roll a random pet family every week for everyone to share their pictures, their stories, their love for that pet family. Please no hate or rants. This is an appreciation thread. If you dislike the family, don't post! Hopefully with some love we can get some hunters to try out new pets they never would have thought to tame before.
Our 11th family is the scavenging carrion bird family!
Image from WoW TCG.
Carrion bird facts
~Carrion birds have been tameable since Vanilla WoW.
~Carrion birds have three tameable models and 14 different skin colors.
~Carrion birds have five rare members: Emberwing, Lord Condar, Spiteflayer (also unique skinned), Vultros, and Zaricotl (also unique skinned).
~Other than Spiteflayer and Zaricotl, carrion birds have two other unique skinned named members. These two are the mates Torgos and Trachela.
~Carrion birds and birds of prey like to interchange members of their families. Formerly Akkarai Hatchling, Brood of Anzu, Daggercap Hawk, Dire Raven, and Fjord Crow where all members of the carrion bird family. Carrion Bird, despite its name, was first tameable as a bird of prey before fixed. Diseased Vultures are still bugged and tame as birds of prey.
~Back in Wrath, carrion birds were tamed by 0.4% of level 80 hunters. Placing them near the bottom at number 19 on the list, tied with hyenas, silithids, and tallstriders. (Source)
~Back in Wrath, carrionbirdskinoutlandwhite was the most tamed skin at 22.2%. Carrionbirdskinbrown was the least tamed skin at 1.4%. (Source)
~Carrion birds previously had the ability Screech, which did damage to the target and had an aoe melee attack lowering effect. This was great for aoe farming before thunderstomp was basic for all tenacity pets. Carrion birds shared this ability with bats and owls (now known as birds of prey).
~Oddly, carrion birds in WoW cannot have the talented ability Carrion Feeder since they are a ferocity, not cunning. Only the Diseased Vultures which are mislabeled as a bird of prey can use this ability.
~Blue Mini Jouster and Gold Mini Jouster are two carrion bird minipets with a "rider" on their back.
~Angered Arakkoa Protectors can be tamed with their blue mist as a permanent appearance buff. These are the only ghostly carrion birds as well.
~Both Vultros and Zaricotl before Cataclysm where much higher level than the area they spawned in and elites, making them well known killers of players questing in their zones.
~Three carrion birds had unique traits in Vanilla WoW.
Spiteflayer had 1.2 attack speed.
Fire Roc had 115 fire resist.
Searing Roc had 240 fire resist.
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My Orc's baby is Agron, who I had a lovely run at level 10 to get. I play on a PvP server with her, and was expecting not only many happy ganking deaths, but also a long wait for a respawn. None of this happened, and I tamed him without a hitch. He was my main dungeon pet until Garshanga hit some higher levels, and the two are still very attached to one another.
Flaubert is my flamboyant fop of a bird. He doesn't actually suit my Worgen's theme, but when I saw the model, I knew I had to tame him on someone. He has been a beloved addition ever since my camp, and is strongly linked to some of the best times I have had in WoW.
Along with the white fox, the white condor is my favourite pet model. It's just completely gorgeous in every way. Originally, Hathor here was my first hunter's beloved companion. The pet I did dungeons with, soloed with, had around in cities, his forever pet. While I cared greatly for my white crocolisk and white warpie, nothing came even close to their bond. When Cer was race-changed to a female Troll, I let Hathor go as she and the Troll no longer worked together. I tamed the model on several characters over time, but none of them seemed to stick. It took me quite a while to realise that the bird couldn't be on anyone but Cer, no matter what he looked like these days. However, I still tried to give her a new name, so she'd feel more like Mozag's pet. This didn't work either, and I didn't want to take her out of the stables, because I always felt she was unhappy with me. Eventually I knew that she could never be anything but Hathor. I name-changed her and things have been better since. I can still feel Hathor's cold disapproval of her new mistress, and Mozag herself is suspicious also, never having been too keen on birds. But they are forging along, one step at a time. Hathor was the pet that taught me that pixelated creatures can mean a huge amount to a human being. 
As I stated in the opening paragraph, I am not too happy about the two-headed nature of these birds, because it kind of disturbs me. But Anemone's colour was too perfect to resist, and I have not been able to get rid of her even though I usually do not like to take her out much. I feel that she and Lomelinda do not really fit, although they do look brilliant together. I try to console myself with the fact that it was Lome's kind nature which made her befriend one of these twisted creatures, much as she did with her demon dog. I hope they manage to form a bond eventually.
And finally, Bling, my Goblin's beloved insanely yellow bird. I love this damn creature, and with him it doesn't matter about the two heads. Laz has a thing for strange and interesting creatures anyway, and this bird was too good and bright to resist. I hovered around Blasted Lands for several hours waiting for a spawn, and was so happy when I got him at last. Really, really love this yellow and black combo.
One of my alt hunters, Niara, has Vultros. Whenever I create new hunters, a carrion bird is one of the first things I tame. I just love them!
makes him look much larger compared to me
