Whisperbird

A whisperbird was a creature known to the Chiss Ascendancy, the nation of the Chiss species.^[2] It was represented as a piece in the Chiss strategy board game Tactica, and the Chiss light cruiser Whisperbird of Admiral Ar'alani's Picket Force Six in the Expansionary Defense Fleet was named for it.^[1] The whisperbird also shared a name with the whisper bird, an avian native to the moon Yavin 4.^[3]

In 18 BBY,^[4] after the Ascendancy exiled Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn", the senior captain explained to Ar'alani that Chiss Defense Force Supreme General Ba'kif had been put in a position similar to playing Tactica. He had sacrificed his nightdragon—Thrawn—to the Chiss ruling body of the Syndicure, in order to keep his whisperbirds—those who served under the senior captain.^[1]

Behind the scenes

In the current Star Wars canon, the whisperbird was first introduced as the name of a warship in the 2020 novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising, the first volume in the Star Wars: The Ascendancy Trilogy written by Timothy Zahn.^[2] The creature subsequently made its first appearance in the form of a piece of the Tactica game in a flashback scene in Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil, the 2021 final installment of the trilogy.^[1]

Appearances

• Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising (and audiobook) (First mentioned) (In Whisperbird's name)
• Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil (and audiobook) (First appearance) (In flashback(s)) (as Tactica piece)

Notes and references