![]() |
Warning!
At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery & Harry Potter: Magic Awakened & Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. |
![]() |
"Is this all real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"
The topic of this article is of a real-life subject that has been mentioned "in-universe" in a canon source. The Harry Potter Wiki is written from the perspective that all information presented in canon is true (e.g., Hogwarts really existed), and, as such, details contained in this article may differ from real world facts. |
- "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[src]
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.[1]
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.[1]
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.[2]
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.[3]
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
Notes and references
Care of Magical Creatures | |
---|---|
Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts | |
Hagrid's Hut · Forbidden Forest · Care of Magical Creatures classroom · Magical Creatures (club) · The Paddock | |
Professors | Silvanus Kettleburn · Rubeus Hagrid · Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank (substitute teacher) |
Textbooks | The Monster Book of Monsters · Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them |
Creatures studied at Hogwarts | |
Blast-Ended Skrewt · Bowtruckle · Chimaera · Crup · Demiguise · Diricawl · Doxy · Fairy · Fire Crab · Fire Dwelling Salamander · Flobberworm · Fwooper · Glumbumble · Gnome · Golden Snidget · Griffin · Hippogriff · Imp · Jackalope · Knarl · Kneazle · Moke · Murtlap · Niffler · Occamy · Porlock · Quintaped · Streeler · Thestral · Unicorn |
Magical creatures by classification | |
---|---|
X | Flobberworm · Horklump |
XX | Augurey · Bowtruckle · Chizpurfle · Clabbert · Diricawl · Fairy · Ghoul · Gnome · Grindylow · Imp · Jobberknoll · Mooncalf · Porlock · Puffskein · Ramora · Winged horse |
XXX | Ashwinder · Billywig · Bundimun · Crup · Doxy · Dugbog · Fire crab · Fwooper · Glumbumble · Hippocampus · Hippogriff · Hodag · Jarvey · Knarl · Kneazle · Leprechaun · Lobalug · Mackled Malaclaw · Moke · Murtlap · Niffler · Nogtail · Pixie · Plimpy · Pogrebin · Red Cap · Salamander · Sea serpent · Shrake · Streeler · Winged horse |
XXXX | Centaur · Demiguise · Erkling · Erumpent · Golden Snidget · Graphorn · Griffin · Hidebehind · Kappa · Kelpie · Merpeople · Occamy · Phoenix · Re'em · Runespoor · Snallygaster · Sphinx · Tebo · Thestral · Thunderbird · Troll · Unicorn · Winged horse · Yeti |
XXXXX | Acromantula · Basilisk · Chimaera · Dragon · Horned Serpent · Lethifold · Manticore · Nundu · Quintaped · Wampus cat · Werewolf |