Yellka

Yellka (yell-kah) is the name given to large birds of prey that are found on Boodja.

Description & Habitat
Yellkas are large, powerfully built birds of prey, with heavy heads and hooked beaks for ripping flesh. They have broad wings enabling powerful and fast flight, with strong muscular legs and powerful talons. They have very powerful eyesight enabling them to spot prey from a very long distance away.

Yellkas build their nests, called eyries? (eagle nest), in tall trees or on high cliffs.

The size and power of the yellkas ranks that the top of the food chain and an apex predator in the avian world. They prey on other birds, snakes?, small mammals and have been known to carry off full grown Mambaras.

A full grown yellka can have a body length of (102cm is a bald eagle, 140cm Haast with a long broad tail). Typical wingspan is between (1.8 and 2.3m bald eagle, 2.6m Haast) and the weight can be up to (6.3kg bald eagle, 10 to 15kg Haast)). The females are larger than the males.

Behaviour
Yellkas attack at great speeds (up to 80km/h Haast) with one talon usually seizing the prey and the other breaking the neck or delivering a blow to head for larger prey. Yellkas tend to not carry their larger prey large from the kill site, as they can not lift heavy prey long distances.

Etymology
The term is derived from ...