Bird

Birds are part of every game in the Age of Empires series. Most of them are background elements or decoys, not affecting the game in the slightest. Some birds, like the Turkey from Age of Empires II and Age of Empires III, are sources of food.

Age of Empires

Age of Empires birds
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Animal
Civilization	Gaia
Statistics
Hit points	4
Speed	1.5 (Eagle) 1 (Hawk)
Line of Sight	10 (Eagle) 0 (Hawk)
Ability	Fly
Notes
Removed in Return of Rome

Return of Rome birds
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires: Return of Rome
Type	Animal
Civilization	Gaia
Statistics
Hit points	1
Speed	1.32 (except Seagulls, which are stationary)
Line of Sight	7
Ability	Fly
Notes
Hawk is a different version to the original game, both in graphics and stats

Birds in Age of Empires are decorative Gaia units that fly continuously around the map, unimpeded by obstacles. The following birds appear in the original and Definitive Edition of Age of Empires:

• Eagle
• Hawk

In The Rise of Rome, birds can be hunted down by a Villager, but not by any other unit. Once the animal is killed, it creates an impact similar to a crashing projectile of a siege weapon. The birds have 4 hit points but do not yield any food.

From the Definitive Edition onwards, birds are completely non-interactive: they can't be selected or hunted.

Cheats

If cheat codes are enabled, it is possible to take command of all Gaia units by entering gaia in the chat box. This includes birds, which can't interact with anything else, but Eagles provide Line of Sight. In the original version of the game, they can be commanded to move to an area, although this can take some time as they have a wide turning circle. After reaching the destination, they continue flying in the usual pattern. Birds can't be controlled from the Definitive Edition onwards, because they can't be selected, but can still provide Line of Sight.

A cheat code added in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome is king arthur, which turns all birds into Dragons. Dragons can't be hunted by Villagers, and move much faster. With the gaia cheat code, they provide no Line of Sight, but can still be controlled like other birds in the original version of the game.

Return of Rome

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome replaces the existing birds with those from Age of Empires II, with their stats from that game. It also has a different version of the Dragon, which has new graphics, the same stats as all other bird units, and can be placed in the Scenario Editor. Edible Ostriches, Turkeys, and Geese were also introduced with Return of Rome, as well as a cheat unit, the Penguin.

Trivia

• In the original and Definitive Edition game data, the Hawk's animations are labelled as "pigeon", and the design appears closer to a pigeon than to a hawk.
• In the original, the Eagle was based upon the bald eagle, which is exclusively found in North America, despite the Eurasian setting of the game. In the Definitive Edition, its design was changed to the more accurate American-Eurasian golden eagle.

Gallery

Eagles (outer) and Hawks (inner) in Age of Empires

Eagles in the Definitive Edition

Hawks in the Definitive Edition

Dragons in the original game

Dragons in Return of Rome

Age of Empires II

Age of Empires II birds
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Type	Animal
Civilization	Gaia
Statistics
Hit points	1
Speed	1.32 (except Seagulls, which are stationary)
Line of Sight	7
Ability	Fly

Once again, certain flying birds make their appearance in the second game, and are completely non-interactable. The following decorative birds appear in Age of Empires II:

• Falcon
• Hawk
• Macaw
• Red Crowned Crane
• Seagulls
• Stork
• Vulture

They are all available in the Scenario Editor and have 1 HP. They cannot be targeted, though killing them with triggers still plays an explosion, exactly like the Petard's explosion. Before the Definitive Edition, a distinct and bigger explosion was used for the birds.

The cheat code woof woof, introduced in The Conquerors, changes all flying birds (except Seagulls) into Stormy Dogs. With the natural wonders cheat code, these are controllable.

Unlike in the original Age of Empires, multiple birds are edible: the Turkey, Goose, and Chicken as herdable animals, and the Ostrich and Wild Chicken as huntables. The Turkey essentially fulfills the role of Sheep on American maps (sometimes accompanied or replaced by the Llama), the Goose appears on some winter-themed maps, and the Ostrich appears on African maps. Chickens and Wild Chickens hold less food than other animals.

Age of Empires II also features a military bird unit: The Penguin. It is an infantry unit that can only be obtained in the Scenario Editor, as an easter egg in the Vinlandsaga scenario, or by entering the cheat code 'i don't exist'.

Gallery

Various birds in-game.

Geese in the Definitive Edition.

Animated sprite of a Hawk flying.

Age of Mythology

In Age of Mythology, non-edible birds are more interactive, as they count as units and can be killed on some occasions, most notably when a Zeus player invokes Lightning Storm. These birds include Hawks and Vultures, which appear on snowy/grassland and desert maps, respectively. On the other hand, Seagulls are set as embellishment objects, not as units. Tale of the Dragon introduced Parrots that appear in Jungle maps, as well as Eagles to be used as an alternative to Hawks. With Immortal Pillars, flocks of flying Red Crowned Cranes appear over several Chinese-themed maps.

• Eagle
• Hawk
• Parrot
• Vulture
• Flying Red Crowned Crane

Not unlike Age of Empires II, edible birds make an appearance; the Chicken and the Crowned Crane, both as huntables. Tale of the Dragon also introduced Ducks, which are similar to Chickens. The Domestication technology, available to followers of Fu Xi, increased the gather rate for Ducks and Chickens by 30%, making this the only technology that affects the gather rate for specific huntables. With Retold, Ducks were removed, but the Red Crowned Crane and the Golden Pheasant were introduced as timid huntables.

Harpies (appearing on maps set in the Underworld, such as Erebus or River Styx) also interact similarly to Vultures and Hawks, but count as monsters rather than birds. Originally, Harpies were intended to be Hades' unique scout (appearing as the Harpy Scout in the Tale of the Dragon Scenario Editor) and Vultures as Egyptian flying scouts. They make a reappearance as a campaign-exclusive unit in the Pillars of the Gods campaign.

Doves can be seen flying when the Ceasefire god power is invoked.

Vulture Scout

Vulture
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Mythology
Removed in	Retold
Type	Flying myth unit
Internal name	Vulture Scout
Statistics
Hit points	50
Speed	4.00
Hack armor	20%
Pierce armor	60%
Crush armor	99%

“

Myth unit. Flying Scout. Has no attack. Can only be attacked by ranged units.

”

The Vulture was also the name of a Scenario Editor-exclusive myth unit in Age of Mythology, which differed from the regular Vulture, as it could be controlled by a player and used for gaining Line of Sight. It could not attack, but could be attacked by ranged units and damaged by god powers. Another similar unit existed in the Scenario Editor with the name Harpy. It was removed in Retold.

Trivia

• The Hawk has two texture maps in Age of Mythology, one (Animal Hawk.ddt) is used in the game, and one (Animal Hawk Map.ddt) is a leftover from development.
• The Hawk was also intended at one point to be selectable, due to the presence of an icon, however, it does not have a history file associated with it.
• The Eagle was originally intended to appear in Age of Mythology, but was removed before release. It was re-added in Tale of the Dragon.
  • The Eagle in Age of Mythology was also based upon the bald eagle, which is exclusively found in North America, despite the Eurasian setting of the game.

Gallery

A player controlled Vulture Scout under attack

Close-up of a Vulture in Retold

Close-up of a Hawk in Retold

Age of Empires III

A herd of Rheas, found in Patagonia

Apart from two edible birds, the Rhea and the Turkey, the game also features an enormous variety of decorative birds, whose appearance varies on the featured maps, often their native habitats. It should be noted that they technically count as units, and can be moved around in the Editor, but are otherwise non-interactable and cannot be hunted.

These birds are non-edible and only serve decorative purposes; they are all available in various maps and are also provided in the Scenario Editor:

• Bar-Headed Goose*
  • Flock of Bar-Headed Geese*
• Blackbird flock*
• Flock of Buzzards*
• Canada Goose*
  • Flock of Geese*
• Condor*
• Duck
  • Flock of Ducks*
• Eagle*
• Falcon*
• Flock of Flamingos*
• Hawk*
• Kingfisher
• Macaw*
• Parrot*
• Seagull*
• Snowy Owl*
• Stork
• Flock of Storks*
• Swan
• Vulture*

The birds marked with a * have 20 hit points and 6.0 speed in-game.

Concerning the edible birds, it should be noted that Turkeys provide 500 food, and are easily killed by a Blunderbuss-boosted Settler, so it is recommended to prefer Turkeys, rather than foraging Berry Bushes or hunting Capybaras on maps that have them (such as Yucatán or Caribbean).

Rheas on the other hand provide 400 food and are found in large herds, similarly to most huntables, such as Deer.

A unit called "Bird" (with the appearance of three black birds on the ground) is introduced in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties but appears only in campaign cinematics, usually to fly away when disturbed by coming human units. When selected in the Editor, however, the bird is revealed to have the Turkey's icon and 400 food.

Trivia

• There are unused texture files for a fourth variant of Macaw/Parrot (macaw04.ddt), which resembles a Hyacinth macaw. It can be enabled via modding.

Gallery

A flock of Buzzards in Sonora

A Condor flying over the Painted Desert

The Condor in the Scenario Editor

The Eagle in the Scenario Editor

A group of Swans in-game

A small group of Swans swimming in a pond in Act I: Japan

A Vulture in the Great Plains, flying above some Pronghorns

Vultures resting on a tree; note the Vulture on the ground

The three Macaw variants on the Amazonia map

Age of Empires IV

A Mongol Khan releasing a Scouting Falcon to spy on an enemy town

Unlike previous games, Age of Empires IV does not feature decorative birds that fly across the map. Nonetheless, two types of birds do appear as embellishments, and one as a special ability. Flocks of seagulls can be seen flying over shoals of Fish, helping to mark their location. Chickens also appear as a decorative element in one of the Dark and Feudal Age House models for most civilizations, though these lack an animation. Finally, the Mongol Khan and Scout can a release a Scouting Falcon that temporarily provides Line of Sight over an area of 10 tiles.

In addition to visible birds, audio of various bird species can be heard on different Biomes. The flocks of seagulls that appear over shoals of Fish are also audible when zoomed in on.