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[]
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 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.
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[]
Age of Empires II[]
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:
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.
Unlike in the first game, three birds are edible: the Turkey and the Goose as herdable animals, and the Ostrich as a huntable. 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.
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[]
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.
Not unlike Age of Empires II, two edible birds make their appearance; the Chicken and the Crowned Crane, both as huntables. Tale of the Dragon also introduces Ducks, which are similar to Chickens. The Domestication technology, available to followers of Fu Xi, increases the gather rate for Ducks and Chickens by 30%, making this the only technology that affects the gather rate for specific 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.
Vulture Scout[]
“ | Myth unit. Flying Scout. Has no attack. Can only be attacked by ranged units. | ” |
The Vulture is also a Scenario Editor-exclusive myth unit, which differs from the regular Vulture, as it can be controlled by a player and used for gaining Line of Sight. It cannot attack, but can be attacked by ranged units and damaged by god powers. Another similar unit exists in the Scenario Editor with the name Harpy.
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.
Age of Empires III[]
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*
- Blackbird flock*
- Buzzard flock*
- Canada Goose*
- Condor*
- Duck
- Eagle*
- Falcon*
- Hawk*
- Kingfisher
- Macaw*
- Parrot*
- Seagull*
- Snowy Owl*
- Stork
- Swan
- Vulture*
The birds marked with a * have 20 HP 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[]
Animals in Age of Empires | |
---|---|
Until Definitive Edition | |
Huntables | Gazelle · Elephant |
Predators | Alligator · Lion · Crocodile |
Marine creatures | Shore Fish · Tuna · Salmon · Whale |
Animal Kings | Lion (Alpha) · Crocodile (Alpha) · Gazelle (Alpha) · Elephant (Alpha) |
Other | Lion (tame) |
Decorative | Bird · Dragon |
Cut | Horse · Goat |
Including Return of Rome | |
Huntable | Deer · Ibex · Iron Boar · Javelina · Ostrich · Rhinoceros · Wild Boar · Zebra |
Herdable | Cow · Goat · Goose · Llama · Pig · Sheep · Turkey · Water Buffalo |
Predator | Bear · Dire Wolf · Jaguar · Komodo Dragon · Rabid Wolf · Snow Leopard · Tiger · Wolf |
Civilian | Bactrian Camel · Camel · Donkey · Horse |
Military animals | Alfred the Alpaca · Furious the Monkey Boy · Penguin |
Decorative | Wild Bactrian Camel · Wild Camel · Wild Horse |
Marine animals | Box Turtles · Dolphin · Dorado · Marlin · Perch · Snapper |
Animals in Age of Empires II | |
---|---|
Herdable animals | Cow · Goat · Goose · Llama · Pig · Sheep · Turkey · Water Buffalo |
Timid huntables | Deer · Gazelle · Ibex · Ostrich · Zebra |
Aggressive huntables | Elephant · Iron Boar · Javelina · Rhinoceros · Wild Boar |
Wild animals | Bear · Crocodile · Dire Wolf · Jaguar · Komodo Dragon · Lion · Rabid Wolf · Snow Leopard · Tiger · Wolf |
Marine animals | Box Turtles · Dolphin · Dorado · Marlin · Perch · Salmon · Shore Fish · Snapper · Tuna |
Civilian animals | Bactrian Camel · Camel · Donkey · Horse |
Military animals | Alfred the Alpaca · Furious the Monkey Boy · Penguin |
Hero animals | Hunting Wolf · Ornlu the Wolf |
Decorative animals | Bird · Stormy Dog · Wild Bactrian Camel · Wild Camel · Wild Horse |
Animals (non-myth units) in Age of Mythology | |
---|---|
Herdable animals | Cow · Goat · Pig · Yak |
Timid huntables | Baboon · Caribou · Chicken · Crowned Crane · Deer · Duck · Elk · Gazelle · Giraffe · Monkey · Zebra |
Aggressive huntables | Aurochs · Boar · Elephant · Hippopotamus · Ram · Rhinoceros · Walrus · Water Buffalo |
Wild animals | Arctic Wolf · Crocodile · Bear · Hyena · Lion · Lizard · Panda Bear · Polar Bear · Tiger · Wolf |
Military animals | Golden Lion · Relic Monkey |
Fish | Herring · Mahi-mahi · Perch · Salmon |
Decorative animals | Bird ( Eagle · Harpy · Hawk · Parrot · Vulture) · Hawksbill Turtle · Orca · Shark · Whale |
Scenario Editor-exclusive animals | Alfred · Dog · Giant Duck-Billed Platypus · Golden Fleece (also herdable) · Reindeer |
Cheat animals | Methane Chicken |
Cut animals | Camel · Horse |