Thunderbird

Thunderbird
Species information
Skin colour	White
Feather colour	Gold/White
Related to	Phoenix
Native to	Arizona, United States of America
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Can magically create storms Highly sensitive to danger
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast XXXX
Status	Extant

"Flying beast that can sense danger, and create storms as it flies"

— Description of the Thunderbird

The Thunderbird was a large, magical avian beast native to North America, and most commonly found in Arizona in the southwestern United States. A close relative of the phoenix, the Thunderbird could create storms as it flew and was highly sensitive to danger. A House at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was named after this creature.

Description

A Thunderbird creating a storm

The Thunderbird was described as having a head that was "similar to that of an eagle"; or, in the wizarding world, "similar to that of a Hippogriff". They possessed three pairs of powerful wings, and had feathers that shimmered with cloud-like patterns.

A wild Thunderbird

The Thunderbird was known to change colours as it summoned storms, its iridescent feathers shifting from various shades of gold to electrifying blue, to grey and silver, to white, and even to deep navy.

The Thunderbird could also sense danger and created storms as it flied.

Uses

Thunderbirds' tail feather could be used as a core in a wand, with this type of wand being difficult to master, but powerful and skilled in transfiguration work. They too were also able to sense danger, much like their donors, also being able to cast curses on their own.

History

Shikoba Wolfe, who was of Choctaw descent, was primarily famous for intricately carved wands containing Thunderbird tail feathers. Wolfe wands were generally held to be extremely powerful, though difficult to master. They were particularly prized by Transfigurers.

Newt and the rescued Thunderbird Frank

Around 1926, Albus Dumbledore told Newt Scamander about a Thunderbird captured by traffickers in Egypt. Newt rescued the bird, named him Frank, and travelled to America, intending to return him to his natural habitat in Arizona. He arrived in New York City via a Muggle transatlantic passenger ship, hoping to avoid the attention of the MACUSA, due to then current laws on private possession of Magical Creature.

Frank using his weather related powers to create a large rainstorm laced with Swooping Evil venom

Due to a large number of magical occurrences in New York City during Scamander's visit, culminating in the Obscurial attack on New York, he released Frank over the city, using the Thunderbird's weather related powers to create a large rainstorm laced with Swooping Evil venom. The diluted venom helped obliviate the population, allowing the MACUSA agents to more easily cover up the major potential Statute of Secrecy breach.

After his release, Frank flew under his own power and ultimately made it to Arizona.

In late 1927, Madam Seraphina Picquery, then-president of MACUSA, declared the Thunderbird a protected species, a protection that was later extended to all North American magical creatures.

In the 1980s or early 1990s, a troubled Thunderbird caused disruptions around Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during the 1990–1991 school year. Hogwarts gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid and seventh year student Jacob's sibling were assisted by Holly Blackbird in calming down the agitated Thunderbird, who was being harassed by wizard and con artist Todd Cribb, who was placed under arrest after being defeated by Jacob's sibling in a brief duel.

Several Thunderbirds lived in Luna Scamander's suitcase. When Luna came to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 2010–2011 school year to assist Rubeus Hagrid in the investigation of the mysterious infestation of baby Manticores within the school grounds, she accidentally let the Thunderbirds out the suitcase. One of them caught a cold and created a local thunderstorm above Hagrid's Hut.

During the Calamity in the late 2010s or early 2020s, Luna took a Calamity Investigator working for the Statute of Secrecy Task Force into the field to learn how to detect, catch, and befriend Thunderbirds, teaching them how to control their mind when vulnerable.

Known Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds	Notes
Frank	The Thunderbird that Newt Scamander rescued from traffickers in Egypt.
Thunderbird at the Magical Creatures Reserve	The Thunderbird that was harassed by Todd Cribb but eventually left to stay in the Magical Creatures Reserve
Luna Scamander's Thunderbirds	The various Thunderbirds that Luna Scamander had in her suitcase which she brought to Hogwarts.

See also

• Thunderbird House at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
• Phoenix
• Augurey
• Fwooper
• Weather-Modifying Charms

Media

Behind the scenes

"I wanted to have one thing that was quintessentially American, and the Thunderbird is. I feel a special kinship for birds. I loved Dumbledore's phoenix, and I wanted a bird in this film with its own mythology. When the thunder bird flaps its multiple wings, it creates storms, so it's a powerful, mythical creature"

— J. K. Rowling on the Thunderbird

The Thunderbird as depicted on Pottermore

A Thunderbird as depicted in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

• The Thunderbird is a legendary creature which appears in the mythology of certain indigenous peoples of North America. It is especially prominent within the cultures of the Pacific Northwest and is frequently featured in their art, songs, and stories. Versions of the Thunderbird are also found in the traditions of peoples of the American Southwest, Great Lakes, and Great Plains regions of the continent. Accounts of the Thunderbird and its characteristics vary, but it is often described as a very large bird, capable of generating storms and thunder as it flies.
• Based on concept art in The Case of Beasts: Explore the Film Wizardry of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and pop art commissioned from artist Andy Singleton forPottermore, the Thunderbird may have different colour variations within the species. Based on similar birds of prey, such as the Bald Eagle, the Thunderbird may also have sexual dimorphism between males and females. The standard sexual dimorphism noted in Bald Eagles is that females tend to be about 25% larger than males.
• Based on historical accounts, and the widespread tales of large birds/"Thunderbirds" in Native American lore and mythology, the range of the Thunderbird once may have extended across the continental United States. In the folklore of the Penobscot and Abenaki tribes of Maine, there exists a legendary bird named "Pamola" (meaning "he curses on the mountain"), who was likely a Thunderbird. He was said to be a spirit that lived on the summit of Mount Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine, and "resented mortals intruding from below". Pamola was said to be "the god of thunder", and "the protector of the mountain". He was both feared and respected by the Penobscots and Abenakis, and his presence was one of the main reasons that climbing the mountain was considered taboo. Pamola was associated with causing "wind, snow, and storms"; caused "a noise like the whistling of a powerful wind" when flying; and was "large enough to carry off a moose". The legend of Pamola may have also been the inspiration for Chadwick Boot in naming House Thunderbird of Ilvermorny. Martha Steward II, the Squib daughter of Ilvermorny founders Isolt Sayre and James Steward, married a no-Maj of the Pocomtuc tribe, and may have been familiar with this story, or the mythical bird itself. Around 1754, the Pocomtuc tribe, due to the Seven Years' War, joined and merged with the Abenaki tribe. Many of the present-day Abenaki of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Canada are of part-Pocumtuc ancestry.
• Many schools and colleges in the United States and Canada use a Thunderbird as their mascot and symbol. Notable schools include Mesa Community College, located in the Thunderbird's native habitat of the Arizona desert, and the University of British Columbia.
• It is interesting to note that the Phoenix is the closest relative of the Thunderbird, as both birds are affiliated with the elements of fire and lightning respectively, both of which are forms of the fourth state of matter, plasma.
• The Thunderbird is also connected to the Phoenix in that they both have life renewing properties: while the Phoenix rejuvenates itself by burning and rising from its ashes in addition to the healing properties of its tears, the Thunderbird summons storms that bring life-giving rains to the deserts.
• Funnily enough, the Phoenix is the namesake of the State Capital of Arizona, Phoenix Arizona, which is part of the Thunderbird's native range and habitat.
• In Sioux, the Thunderbird is known by the name, Wakinyan, which translates to "thunder being" or "thunder spirits" in English. It is typically in reference to this legendary creature. Interestingly, the Sioux believed the Wakinyan to be the mortal enemy of the Unktehi, the Horned Serpent, which is the mascot of another house of Ilvermorny.
• Albus Dumbledore states in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald that the Dumbledore family have an bloodline inherited affinity with great magical birds, which include Thunderbirds and phoenixes. Albus knew of the events surrounding the Thunderbird Frank, who Newt was with in the first Fantastic Beasts film, despite being on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Also, Albus stated that his great-great-grandfather had a phoenix who left when his great-great-grandfather died, and never returned, which also happened to Fawkes when Albus died in June 1997. Meaning, once a Dumbledore dies, the phoenix leaves forever. In Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore further states that the reason why Credence has a phoenix is because he was dying from his Obscurial nature poisoning him to death, and that he knows this because he saw the same thing when Ariana was dying from her Obscurial nature poisoning her to death.

Appearances

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2017 edition)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore (First appearance)
• Wizarding World
• LEGO Dimensions
• LEGO Harry Potter
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells