Bird (Donkey Kong series)

Bird
Artwork of a Bird from Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten
First appearance	Donkey Kong Jr. (1982)
Latest appearance	WarioWare Gold (2018)
Variant of	Nitpicker
Relatives Hawks Kaibādo
Comparable Crow

Birds are flying corvid Nitpickers that make their debut in the Donkey Kong Jr. arcade game. In most versions, they sport thick beaks and flap their wings in a brisk pace while flying.

History

Donkey Kong series

Donkey Kong Jr.

Birds in various different Donkey Kong Jr. versions

Birds, also referred to as Nitpickers, make their first appearance in the Chain Scene of Donkey Kong Jr. Like the Nitpickers in the Jump Board Scene, these Birds similarly fly horizontally across the screen, descending progressively as they meet its margins. They flee off-screen after performing four such flights. Unlike those Nitpickers, they do not bombard Donkey Kong Jr. with eggs, and are designed to look more like ravens in most versions, given their dark coloration and chubby structure. They can be defeated the same way nonetheless, as falling fruit can put an end to them.

In the Atari 2600 port, a single bird flies left to right at the bottom of the stage. In the Intellivision port, they fly off the left or right side of the screen rather than doing their zigzag routine.

Donkey Kong Jr. Math

A lone Bird (known as a "nitpicker") appears in the +-×÷ Exercise mode of Donkey Kong Jr. Math. It hovers over the chains, showing which position Donkey Kong Jr. should fill. It will also show where Junior made his mistakes.

Donkey Kong (Game Boy)

A single Bird nest can be seen in the Game Boy Donkey Kong, in Stage 9-4 of the Tower, a boss stage that resembles the Chain Scene from Donkey Kong Jr. It spawns two Birds on-screen at a time. After rising slowly from their nest, Birds fly horizontally across the room, moving down a short distance and turning back upon meeting the room's limits. They perform three complete flights, and flee outside the map of the stage afterwards. Birds can not be practically defeated, as the stage they appear in presents no means of combat against them. They now attempt to drop eggs on Mario if they fly above him. Unless they are avoided, or deflected with a handstand, these eggs can plummet down on the character and cause him to lose a life.

Birds are identical in behavior to Hawks and Kaibādo, which are other successors of Nitpickers.

Family BASIC

In the Family BASIC accessory to the Family Computer, it is one of three programmable bird characters. It also makes a cameo on the Message Board.

WarioWare Gold

In WarioWare Gold, two Birds have to be avoided by Donkey Kong Jr. as he climbs two ropes in the third difficulty of the Donkey Kong Jr. microgame. They fly on a straight line from left to right, across the ropes.

Profiles and statistics

Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten

クロ
種族　フライ族
性格　いじわる
登場ゲーム　GBドンキー
いじわるカラスだ！逃げろ
一定の間隔でタマゴを落つことしてくる、とても迷惑なカラスのモンスター。上も横もさわれないし、ぶつけるものち何ちないので、ひたすら逃げ回ろう。

Bird
Tribe: Fly clan
Disposition: Ill-tempered
Game appearances: GB Donkey
You nasty crows! Get out of here!
A very annoying crow monster that drops its eggs at regular intervals. You can't touch it from above or to the side, and you can't hit it with anything, so just run away from it.

Gallery

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  Sprite of a Bird

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  A Bird, as illustrated in volume 30 of the Kodansha manga

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ニットピッカー Nittopikkā トリさん Tori-san クロ Kuro	Nitpicker Bird-san From「黒」(kuro, black), after their Game Boy coloration; also a play on the English word "crow"
French	Oiseau Rapace	Bird Raptor
German	Vogel Geier	Bird Vulture
Italian	Uccellaccio	Bird of Ill Omen
Spanish	Pájaro	Bird