Stormglider

A stormglider’s exceptional wingspan allows for long gliding flights, riding the updraft winds at great heights. Its considerable size means it is not agile in the air, but once it locates an enticing prey on the ground below, a stormglider will dive at speed, knocking down its target before stinging it with its barbed tail, which is poisonous and sharp enough to pierce thick armor. Stormgliders are not especially intelligent, and have been known to mistake rovers for prey.

Stormgliders are vulnerable on the ground, and once they have stung their prey they will seek to carry it off to a high ledge. If the prey is too big they will eat it where it lies, using their tail to ward off any predators that seek to share the kill.

Stormgliders are solitary creatures who mate for short periods of time, living in pairs only long enough to raise their offspring. A pair of stormgliders hunting together are among the most dangerous encounters one can expect in the wilderness of Pandora.

As a test of daring, young Zeswa challenge each other to race across open land while flying a large kite shaped to look like a Hammerhead from above. Legend has it that stormgliders often swoop down and snatch up the kites, and sometimes the Na’vi who are flying them. Zeswa parents are content to let the children play, safe in the knowledge that this has never actually happened.