Animal Class: Bird
Diet: Carnivorous
Although they have been described as " living Terror Birds", Cockatrice are actually more closely related to Chickens than they are to Terror Birds.
Cockatrice can be found living across Europe and Asia with small populations of them existing in Africa.
Like Phoenixes, Cockatrice are immune to the death stare and venom of Basilisks.
As one could imply from the last fact, Cockatrice have a fierce rivalry with Basilisks and they one of the biggest reasons that Basilisk populations in Europe are so low. Both species have also been observed actively seeking out each other's eggs/young in order to decrease the population of the other.
Cockatrice lay around 5 to 12 eggs at a time and both parents usually take turns looking after them. However, both of them will occasionally leave the nest for a little while and this is when Basilisks take their chance to eat the eggs.
Once the eggs hatch, half of the clutch will spent all their time following one parent around whilst the other half will follow the other parent around. This divide and conquer technique makes it easier to watch over them and easier to teach them how to hunt and fight.
Cockatrice can lay up to 80 clutches of eggs in their lifetime.
Cockatrice mate for life and if one of them dies, the other will never mate again.
The lifespan of a Cockatrice usually spans 35 to 40 years, but stories have been told of individuals that lived into their 90s.
They are capable of flight, but their wings are only able to lift them a few feet off the ground and they can only fly for a few minutes at a time. Their wings are more suited for combat than they are flight.
Due to the fact that their wings are so bad for flight, it has been theorized that Cockatrice will eventually evolve to be flightless and their wings will become smaller with an additional set of talons growing out of them.
Extra Fun Fact: Cockatrice meat is considered a delicacy in certain parts of Asia. The meat is said to taste like a combination of Chicken and Duck meat.