Last Flight of the Shortwings
Once, the pakklaton race prospered.
Of course, the bird-like aliens did not call themselves pakkletons. This was a human word that an exobiologist had ascribed to the large, intelligent avian aliens that used to occupy a corner of the Torald Middle Zone.
In the language of the pakklatons, the large avians generally referred to themselves as shortwingers.
Back in their ancestral home planet of Traiss, the pakkletons possessed shorter wings than comparable bird species.
As they evolved, the shortwingers preferred to live in forested environments where they found shelter and protection from the many predators of their home planet.
Even after they grew smart enough to develop a civilization and tame their own planet, the shortwingers still preferred to live in traditional 'nests' that were based in tall and thick trees.