🔍 Incident Overview & Backstory
On August 8, 2026, a highly credible biological sighting occurred in a rural, heavily overgrown valley sector in Chicago [Subtly added context based on current year 2026]. A trained ornithologist conducting a seasonal migratory bird census noted an unusual, aggressive disruption in local Common Grackle and Raven alarm calls. Setting up a high-lens field camera near a patch of densely grown juniper and tall ground weed brush, the researcher expected to catalog a stray birds-of-prey specimen. Instead, the ornithologist captured two distinct, high-definition photographs of a small, sleek dromaeosaurid navigating the low thicket. The entity moved with a fluid, horizontal lizard-like crawl rather than a typical avian hop, using its specialized limb claw networks to pull itself through the dense weeds. Upon the researcher taking a second step forward, the organism fully deployed a pair of rear-leg wing feathers, launching itself into a silent, low-altitude glide across the creek bed before disappearing into the deep woods. WEHO field biologists immediately intercepted the data stream, marking the most recent verified structural analysis of an active Microraptor in the regional suburban perimeter.
🧬 Biological Field Observations and Anatomy:
Features: The specimen logged is a suburban variant of Microraptor zhaoianus , a small, four-winged dromaeosaur dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period (around 120 million years ago) in what is now China, however, due to recent anomalous appearances is now seen along areas that are commonly Chicago, IL and across North America.
Iridescent Corvid Camouflage: The body plumage features a dense, iridescent coat of jet-black and deep indigo-purple tones. Which has been found in fossil melanosomes. The feathers possess a heavy glossy sheen that mimics a modern raven or magpie, reflecting ambient sunlight into oily blues and greens to disappear inside thick, sun-dappled brush shadows.
Four-Winged Anatomy: Unlike modern birds, this entity possesses fully asymmetric, long flight feathers extending down both its forearms and its hind legs. When crouching in low grass, the rear wings fold neatly backward against the tail line to avoid snagging on thorns or branches.
The Needle Gape: The skull features an elongated, narrow snout with a striking pale yellow orbital ring around a sharp predatory eye. The jaw is lined with fine, backward-curved serrated teeth engineered for pinning small mammals, lizards, and nesting birds mid-flight.
⚠️ Behaviorial Anomalies and Suburban Patterns:
Thicket Foraging: This population has abandoned high-altitude flight lines to specialize in ground-thicket hunting. It uses its small, low-slouch profile to stalk through overgrown backyard weeds and un-mown lawns, perfectly mimicking the movements of a hunting feral cat or a massive crow, it has also been observed to hunt near streams and creeks, attacking small fish and crayfish.
Low-Light Gliding: While capable of brief aerial locomotion, the entity avoids open skies to dodge larger birds of prey. It prefers a "canopy skim" tactic—leaping from old wooden fence posts or low branches and using all four wings to glide silently just six inches above the grass line to surprise field mice.
Territorial Mimicry: When cornered by household pets or property owners, the creature does not screech. Instead, It emits a low, rattling hiss that mimics the defensive warnings of a timber rattlesnake, causing humans and tracking dogs to back away from the brush line while it scrambles up the nearest tree trunk. Whenever it's injured or in its pack, it makes several deep, raspy yelps and songy chirps, much like Grackles and Blackbirds.
Thank you so much for reading this! This was yet another creation I made by drawing a cut out and placing it out in nature for photography, I hope you loved this as it was very hard and fun to make! I feel like these are getting longer and longer. 😅