Okay basically was thinking about how in birds the species that form lifelong monogamous bonds tend to have very little if any sexual dimorphism, yet the Singing People males have the very distinct hood marking, so I went and ran with the thought. Then had feelings about it.
I did briefly consider removing the hood marking, but I do kinda like the design, so instead I'm steering the Singing People into a less human direction.
Jotting down some thoughts!
Family and roles and stuff:
* They don't really have a concept of marriage. While pair bonding does happen, and some breeding couples do stick together, it's not expected to happen every time.
* The average time a breeding couple stays together is few years.
* While some Singing People do, in fact, mate for life, that isn't the norm. (Sunbird is just a weirdo in how into Stonemaker he is.) It is also not unheard of for the pairs to split before their chicks hatch.
* They don't see the latter case as single parenting, though. If you asked them how they're gonna raise the chick/chicks alone by themself, they would be really baffled.
Like, that's what the clan is for? Who on earth would leave childrearing on a single person?? What???
* Like with ostritches, it's usually the dad who does the incubation. So, while usually both parents are acknowledged, and both of them plus their extended family take part in raising the child, the Singing People see fathers as slightly more central role than mothers in the process.
* There are some female Singing People who see that their responsibility ends at laying the eggs.
For them what happens in the nesting grounds stays in the nesting grounds.
How frowned upon this lifestyle choice is varies, but it's usually more accepted than not.
* Single mothers raising their chicks without the father present are much more rare than the other way around.
* If you hatch it, it's yours.
* Collecting eggs from multiple ladies and hatching them in the same year is super weird, though. You do bond with your seasonal mate for the nesting season at least!
* Since multiple clans usually share the same nesting ground as they follow their cow herds that do so, people exchanging clans usually happen this way. You bond for a season and follow your bond mate once your herds split after the season. Some stay in their new clans even after the pair bond ends, and some return to their original home clans, depending on the person and the friendships they've formed.
* They usually don't see former pair bonds as exes, and while levels of jealousy vary, the average level is a lot lower than on humans.
* For the Singing People "child" is a gender.
* Due to not having external genitals, and no sex linked markings upon hatching, all children are considered the same as a result.
* It is technically possible to try to probe a chick's sex while they're still kids, but it's not always accurate and is seen as a bit weird thing to do.
* While sex linked behaviors do pop up before adult plumage does, they don't always match the "eventual" sex of the individual (sometimes a lady can dance, for example, even if the mating dance is usually a thing initiated by males) and is seen as just kids being kids, basically like playing house.
* Overall the Singing People have very little gendered expectations for their people and the strongest of bonds you have don't have to align with who you raise your kids with, mating bonds tend to be fleeting after all.
* Molting into your adult plumage is considered to be when you become your gender, and is also an occasion for celebration.
(It can take several molts across few years for your adult markings to settle into their final form, but once your facial feather disc turns white -usually at the same time the hood marking first makes its appearance- is when you leave childhood and become an adult)
* They have a... not really a "deity", but a mythical character, who is said to paint your feathers once you grow old enough. Might just call them Feather Painter for now.
* Their myths also have a trickster character (Wind Cloak) who also occasionally paints feathers of young Singing People. Wind Cloak is often portrayed as bilateral gynandromorph, half male and half female, so being intersex or presenting non-typical markings is seen as being painted by them instead.
This is usually seen in positive light, as Wind Cloak is usually portrayed as a benevolent character, tricking greedy and mean people into falling for their own traps (kinda like a Bugs Bunny type of character)
* In some cases older females sometimes develop male like markings as they get old. It's just a thing that happens. Often times this is also blamed on Wind Cloak messing with things.
