Huntinpeck family

The huntinpeck family is a family first introduced in Pikmin 3, although the family went unclassified until Hey! Pikmin. There are currently three members of this family. Members of this family resemble chimaeras of insects and birds, and hunt by impaling prey on their sharp beaks before consuming them.

Members share the Spourgitis genus.

Members

Scornet

Main article: Scornet.

Scornets are a combination of a bee and hummingbird native to the Twilight River area, resembling cone shaped fuzzy bees with beady blue eyes and large golden feathers. When not commanded by a Scornet Maestro, swarms aimlessly fly around. If any Pikmin are spotted, they form an arrow shape with their facial stingers erect and charge. Pikmin who are caught must be saved before the Scornets kill them.

Scornet Maestro

Main article: Scornet Maestro.

The Scornet Maestro is the fourth boss of Pikmin 3, and the queen of a large Scornet colony in the Twilight River. It looks like a large Scornet with a long beak, red and yellow eyes, arms that end in cotton covered hands, and a small tail. The Scornet Maestro strums string-like teeth in its mouth like a harp to command it's colony to arrange in different offensive formations. The Scornet Maestro is only vulnerable when its Scornets fly away after an attack.

Sparrowhead

Main article: Sparrowhead.

Sparrowheads are small creatures that usually travel in groups of at least two. They have a yellow, orange-dotted body, and a small pointy beak. When approached by the player, they appear from off-screen, stand in place to face a Pikmin, and after a few seconds, swoop down the for kill. This pause leaves them vulnerable, and they only take one Pikmin throw to kill.

Naming

The name "huntinpeck" is a portmanteau of "hunting" and "peck", since the predator birds swoops down to peck at Pikmin, but it is also a pun on the expression "hunt and peck". This expression refers to people typing with a typewriter or computer keyboard, that have to first hunt down the key they want, so they can then peck at it with one finger. The fact that these enemies will stand in place to search for a Pikmin, before finally swooping in helps explain the choice of the family name. Finally, since they usually hunt in groups, the name could also be a pun on "hunt in packs".

The Spourgitis genus comes from the Greek term for "Sparrow", a type of bird. Members of the huntinpeck family resemble birds, one even having sparrow in its name.