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Waxwell Portrait
These were a failed experiment.

Maxwell

Tallbirds are black, two-legged, flightless Birds with tiny wings normally found in Rockyland biomes. They guard their Tallbird Nest, attacking anything nearby. They are considered innocent creatures even though they are not passive or neutral, and killing one adds 2 points to the player's naughtiness level. Tallbirds take three blasts from the Ice Staff to be frozen. If killed, they drop 2 Meat and will respawn from their nest after 2.5 days (5 days in DST).

Tallbirds lay a speckled, pale-blue Tallbird Egg. Tallbird Eggs do not spoil and can be used in a Crock Pot or hatched into a Smallbird. If a Tallbird Egg is stolen, the Tallbird will chase the player for 3-5 screens. At night (and sometimes during the day), the Tallbird will curl up in its nest. If a Tallbird is attacked while it is asleep, it will remain curled up for a few seconds, allowing the player to land a few free hits before it can attack. Tallbirds cannot make new nests after a nest is destroyed. In DST, however, Tallbirds can create new nests on rocky tiles or tiles that were dug up, allowing for Tallbirds to be relocated anywhere.

Tallbirds may be found clustered together in a Set Piece called Tallfort, where 20 or so Tallbird Nests are placed in a square around multiple Boulders.

Smallbird[]

Glommer See also: Hatching Tallbird Egg

Wendy Portrait
Hello there, little one.

Wendy

Smallbirds are passive mobs that have been hatched from a Tallbird Egg and can fly briefly, unlike teens and adults. A Smallbird will grow into a Teenbird (or Smallish Tallbird) after 10 full days. They are considered innocent creatures and killing one adds 6 points to the player's naughtiness level.

Smallbirds require 20 hunger points per day and will demand food by chirping when hungry (Hunger Meter < 50%). When starving (Hunger Meter = 0), they will die after 4 game hours (2 minutes). They can be fed any type of Seeds. They will eat seeds off the ground when they are hungry. Eating anything heals them to full health.

Smallbirds will follow the player and attack the player's targets. If the player moves far enough away from the Smallbird while it is sleeping at night, it will wake up to move closer to the player before falling asleep again. Since they have very small Health, players must be careful when fighting strong mobs or groups of them. Other birds won't run away from Smallbirds and can be a good way to get Feathers and Morsels. Note that Smallbirds can trigger Tooth Traps and Bee Mines, likely killing them.

When idle, a Smallbird will either bounce around or cock its head/body at an angle with a puzzled look.

Smallish Tallbird[]

Wigfrid Portrait
Yöu are nöt yet ready för battle, bird.

Wigfrid

Commonly known as Teenbirds, Smallish Tallbirds are neutral Mobs that were once Smallbirds. After 18 full days, Smallish Tallbird will grow into a Tallbird, becoming aggressive when approached.

Like Smallbirds, Smallish Tallbirds will follow the player from a distance, and they will also attack the player's targets or enemies that are nearby. They are considered innocent creatures and killing one adds 2 points to the player's naughtiness level.

Smallish Tallbirds require 60 hunger points per day and will begin to chirp more and more until fed. When starving, they will peck the player (2 damage per hit), and will die after 8 segments (4 minutes) if not fed. Eating anything restores 1/3 of their maximum health. They will eat any meats, fruits or vegetables, including Glow Berries, Rotten Eggs, and Rot. Smallish Tallbirds will eat food left on the ground.

If the player is wearing a Spiderhat, the Smallish Tallbird will attack until the hat is removed.

After turning into adult Tallbirds they will target the player.

Gift Icon Downloadable Content[]

In the Reign of Giants DLC, Tallbird Eggs that are unharvested from their nest will hatch at the beginning of Spring and one or more Smallbirds will spawn near the nest. Tallbirds in Hamlet worlds can spawn near the BFB's nest.

Spear Fighting Strategy[]

Tallbirds cannot be stun-locked, but can be kited. There is only a short interval between their attacks. The safe method is to dodge its attack, attack it once, then dodge again. It's possible to attack twice and run out of its pecking range after it scratches the ground. Note that Tallbirds can leap over small gaps between two landmasses.

Unlike many other creatures, Tallbirds will not defend each other. Tallbirds will only chase the target that aggroed them. They will not change targets even if something else attacks them. This can be exploited to kill them safely by making them aggro on Chester or other followers and then attack the Tallbird without retaliation (however, this has been changed in Don't Starve Together). A very easy way to kill Tallbirds is to lure them to a Lureplant's Eyeplants. As they ignore anything other than their target, they die quickly. Placing Fleshy Bulbs close to a large Tallbird nesting area is an easy way to clear it out. However, this method makes it difficult to obtain their Meat drops, since Lureplants will digest them in a short amount of time.

Tallbirds can be put to sleep with Sleep Dart or Pan Flute. They can also be set on fire using Fire Dart or a Fire Staff, causing it to panic. Usually, the fire will go out before doing enough damage to kill the bird. Note that they can spread fire to their nests, which will permanently stop it from respawning.

Below is the number of hits it takes (with a default damage modifier) to kill a Tallbird (The Weather Pain is not included due to the random nature of its projectile).

Weapon Fishing RodBug Net Lucy the Axe Shovel Pitchfork

Hammer Torch Umbrella

Walking Cane Willow's Lighter

Axe Pickaxe

Luxury Axe Opulent Pickaxe

Boomerang

PickSlashAxe Spear Bat Bat Ham Bat Morning Star Slurtle Slime Tentacle Spike

Battle Spear

Thulecite Club Tooth Trap Dark Sword Blow Dart Fire Dart Fire Staff Gunpowder Old Bell
No. of hits for
Tallbird
95 30 24 15 14 12 10 7-14 6 or 10 8 7 6 4 2 1

Placeholder Trivia[]

  • In previous versions, the Tallbird's chase timer would only reset after they attempted to attack. As they would outrun any character with normal movement speed, this resulted in them chasing the player indefinitely.
  • Maxwell states that Tallbirds were a failed experiment upon examination.
  • Although eggs hatched by the player create Smallbirds, eggs left in a nest without an adult Tallbird present will create an instant adult.
  • Tallbirds may have been inspired by an illustration in Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature.

Blueprint Gallery[]

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