Diricawl

Diricawl
Species information
Feather colour	Bluish-pink
Related to	Birds
Native to	Mauritius, Indian Ocean
Alternative names	Dodo
Mortality	Mortal
Distinction	Apparates at will Flightless
Ministry of Magic Classification	Beast XX
Status	Extant Believed extinct by Muggles

"I got to hold a Diricawl! Then it disappeared… But at least I got to hold one!"

— Barnaby Lee on his experience in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures during his Ministry student programme

The Diricawl (known to Muggles as the Dodo) was a plump, fluffy-feathered and flightless magical bird, native to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

History

A Diricawl and its babies

While Muggles believed this bird to be extinct, in reality, it existed and had the ability to disappear and reappear elsewhere as a means of escaping danger, similar to apparation, while Muggles remain unaware. The International Confederation of Wizards had not seen fit to reveal that the animal still existed, since it seemed to have raised Muggle awareness of the consequences of slaying their fellow creatures indiscriminately.

During the 1989–1990 school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor Silvanus Kettleburn taught his sixth-year students in Care of Magical Creatures class how to handle these birds.

Behind the scenes

• In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Gilderoy Lockhart uses the phrase "going the way of the dodo" to describe the impending extinction of the Giant Fire Crab. This does not make sense for a wizard to say, even one as inept as Lockhart, as they would have no reason to consider the Diricawl extinct. However, it is possible that, growing up with non-magical relatives, it was an expression commonly used by them and that it stuck as a figure of speech even if he did know that the birds were not extinct.
• The Diricawl's ability to vanish and reappear is similar to Apparition for wizards. It is also similar to a wizard's use of a Portkey, Vanishing Cabinet, or the Floo Network.
• Although the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them states that the Diricawl is identical to the real-life dodo, its depiction in the film adaptation is quite different. It is depicted as multicoloured, with a parrot-like beak. However, there is evidence that the historic Dodo did not actually look like it has been depicted in the 20th and 21st century. This could mean that, in the Harry Potter universe at least, the depiction in the movie corresponds to how Dodos actually looked like.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) (First mentioned)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (First appearance)
• 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
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened