Squawks

Squawks as seen in Donkey Kong Country Returns
Squawks
Species	Parrot
Eye color	Brown
Debut	Donkey Kong Country

Squawks the parrot is a recurring Animal Buddy in the Donkey Kong games. There seems to be more than one Squawks throughout the series, due to changes in the size of the character. This article also covers the purple variation, which was given the name of Quawks in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.

Background

Squawks originally appeared in one level of Donkey Kong Country. Due to his small size, he helped in the only way he could by holding a lantern which illuminated the pitch-black cave. Donkey Kong and Diddy were able to make it safely through the cave with his help.

Squawks in Donkey Kong Country 2.

In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Squawks was much larger. He was now capable of carrying both Diddy and Dixie as he flew through the air. Squawks also could defend himself by spitting eggs from his mouth. In the same game, Squawks was featured in a boss battle in which he had to battle King Zing. And in one of the game's last levels, Squawks had to race an evil parrot named Screech through a bramble field so that the Kongs could reach Kaptain K. Rool's airship. Squawks also appeared in Donkey Kong Land 2, Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie's Double Trouble and Donkey Kong Land 3 with the same size and abilities.

Afterwards, later appearances reverted Squawks to his small size from his original appearance. Squawks went on to appear as a messenger bird in Diddy Kong Racing and Donkey Kong 64. In Donkey Kong 64, Squawks also helped by delivering any Golden Bananas he found to the Kongs, and he could also carry Tiny Kong if she shrunk herself down to miniature size. Flocks of parrots looking similar to Squawks were also seen in the game, making it more likely that there was more than one Squawks.

Squawks later appeared as an item in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. When unleashed, Squawks would fly to the racer ahead of the user and hover around them, preventing them from using any Wild Moves. Squawks also acted as an item in Donkey Kong Country Returns. He could be bought at any of Cranky Kong's shops and could then be deployed in a level to seek out a hidden puzzle piece for Donkey Kong. He served the same role in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, except that Funky Kong ran the shops instead.

Quawks

Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3 also featured several parrots that were similar to Squawks. However, these were purple in color and not as powerful as the Green Squawks. There were later known as Quawks. The Quawks in Donkey Kong Country 2 appeared in a beehive level. He could not spit nuts, and he could not fly while the Kongs were holding onto him. He was only able to slow their descent when they held onto him, allowing them to steer away from obstacles in time. There seemed to be multiple Quawks stationed throughout the beehive.

The Quawks in Donkey Kong Country 3 was somewhat stronger. It could not spit eggs, but it could defend itself by picking up barrels with its talons and tossing them at enemies.

Quawks later appeared as an item in Donkey Kong Bongo Blast. When unleashed, Quawks will fly ahead to the player in first place and attack them similar to the Blue Shell in Mario Kart games, except that Quawks can be avoided by jumping out of the way of his attack.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Squawks has been represented as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS an as an Advanced Support Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (using his art from Returns). His Spirit's Support effect was to remove any fog from a stage. When fought in a Spirit battle, his Spirit possessed Duck Hunt in an area covered in fog.

Trivia

• Squawks has appeared in all of the Rareware-made Donkey Kong games except for Donkey Kong Land. He is also one of the two animal friends to reappear in the Retro Studios games, although in a non-rideable capacity.
• Another bird ally named Tawks appears in the Nintendo Switch version of Tropical Freeze, where he replaces Funky Kong in running the game's shop when playing the game's Funky Mode.
• In Super Mario Odyssey, a park and its adjacent street (Squawks Park and Squawks Park Street) in New Donk City are named after him.
• In the Donkey Kong Adventure DLC for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, one of Donkey Kong's Bwananarangs, called Law of the Macaw, bears the image of Squawks's face. He is also referred to in the item's description.