Dino Birds (Ice Age: Collision Course)

The Dino-Birds are the main antagonists of Ice Age: Collision Course. They consist of three characters named Gavin, Gertie, and Roger who were trained to steal eggs.

Why They Need To Go Extinct

 * 1) Compared to the previous antagonists in the Ice Age franchise, they’re not that intimidating or pose a serious threat.
 * 2) Their motives are lame, which only consist of them flying out of range as high as possible in the atmosphere to avoid the asteroid hitting Earth. That is so unrealistic because even if they fly away as high as possible, they can still get killed from the impact. Even if they managed to survive somehow, the food supply would be hard to obtain. What's worse is that Gavin stated that the Earth could be a paradise when the asteroid is deadly.
 * 3) Gavin is supposed to be the dad dino-bird, but there are instances where he is so ruthless that he only cares about getting revenge on Buck instead of stopping the asteroid. Did he not realize what would happen if the asteroid hit Earth?
 * 4) Both Gavin and Gertie mistreat Roger throughout the film because of how rational he is compared to the rest of the family, at least until the end. That is basically neglecting their own relative due to different views. As a result, Gavin favors Gertie over Roger.
 * 5) Like the other new characters in Collision Course, they are not given a proper introduction as to how they came into the other characters' lives. Instead, they feel like they’ve been thrown in at the last minute.
 * 6) Gertie at one point of the film acts spoiled towards Gavin just because Roger kidnapped a mammal (though he was assigned to get Buck and accidentally got Granny instead, but still), thus getting rewarded. It's like she is being an attention hog in that scene.
 * 7) Their redemption arc, where they team up with the main herd to divert the asteroid feels rushed, cliche and forced.
 * 8) Gavin has an ego, as he seems to view himself as a smart and capable dino-bird when the story states otherwise.
 * 9) Overall, they’re one of the weakest antagonists in the Ice Age franchise. Also, they don't really qualify as villains since they don’t have any impact to the plot as the asteroid is the real villain of the film. Yes, the asteroid is technically not a character, but antagonists don't have to be a living thing to qualify as a villain. It's basically character vs. nature conflict instead, yet the film expects us to root against them (though they redeem themselves).

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Gavin does treat Gertie with respect, despite showing favoritism. Even if he mistreats Roger, he reconciles with him during the climax. And let's not forget to mention that Gavin does protect them.
 * 2) Gavin stopped trying to get revenge on Buck in order to help the herd divert the asteroid. If it weren't for Roger, Gertie, and Buck, then this would’ve have happened.
 * 3) Roger is more rational compared to Gavin and Gertie.
 * 4) Their character designs are pretty cool and fit well into the Ice Age franchise.
 * 5) Their voices are decent, thanks to Nick Offerman, Stephanie Beatriz, and Max Greenfield voicing them.

Trivia

 * The Dino-birds are the first species of dinosaurs to be shown fully speaking like the mammals in the franchise.
 * The Dino-birds were probably Dakotaraptors, which were discovered in 2015 and lived alongside Tyrannosaurus Rex. This can be noticed especially in the large 'killing claw' on the Dino-Birds, which were present on raptors and raptor-like dinosaurs in the past.
 * Real Dakotaraptors and other Dromaeosaurs could not fly, unlike the Dino-Birds portrayed in the movie. However, one genus of crow-sized Dromaeosaur, Microraptor, was capable of limited flight due to the presence of well-developed pennaceous feathers on both its arms and its legs.
 * Unlike other dromaeosaurs in pop culture, the dino-birds were given both scales and feathers, including wings and a tail fan, which they had in real life. However, in dromaeosaurs the feather covering would have been similar to that of extant birds, covering almost all of the body, minus the bottom of the feet, the tip of the nose, and possibly the shin. This difference can be explained in the same way as the previous one.