The Burani were an ornithoid civilization descended from avian ancestors. However, they would glide rather than fly.
History and specifics[]
Biology[]
Burani were light-boned and large brained. Their legs were more humanoid than avian. Their wings were functional and ended in three-fingered hands with opposable thumbs. The head was large with forward-looking eyes, a hooked beak and nostrils above the beak. There were no visible ears. Feathers were white, with a colored crest on males and a colored neck ruffle on females.
Culture[]
Fellow members of their species were referred to as nestlings.
Clothing was brightly colored and flamboyant, although wings were kept free of any adornment.
Burani were an insular and very private race and somewhat suspicious of outsiders due to an evolutionary history that included dealing with a number of predatory species on the planet.
Joining the Federation[]
The Burani have been united under a single planetary government for two generations. The father of planetary ruler T'Fara convinced the different nests on the planet to overcome a hereditary distrust of others and unite.
By 2366, the planet was united under T'Fara when it was discovered by the Vulcan ship Sarek.
In 2369 and outbreak of a plague sent the USS Enterprise to the planet. Because the planet was united under a single government and had intrasystem space travel, the usual period of planetary observation was waived and the planet was invited to join the United Federation of Planets. After a year-long debate, 52.745 percent of the population voted to join the Federation. The move to join the Federation was opposed by T'Fara, but favored by his son and heir J'Kara.
Enterprise personnel discovered that T'Fara was responsible for a plague that was killing 100 percent of the people who contracted it. He was arrested for his role in causing the plague. J'Kara died of the plague after refusing to be treated because of his guilt over his father's role in the murder of his nestlings. (TNG novel: The Death of Princes)