The Diricawl is a plump-bodied, fluffy-feathered, flightless bird. (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (textbook)) Its appearance is identical to the bird known to Muggles as the dodo.
The Diricawl possesses a remarkable and distinctive magical ability: it can vanish in a puff of its own feathers and reappear instantly in another location to escape danger. (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (textbook)) This innate talent is a highly effective defense mechanism, making the creature almost impossible to catch. This form of teleportation is visually similar to Apparition. Its gentle nature, combined with this powerful defensive skill, means it poses no threat to wizards or Muggles, leading to its low Ministry of Magic classification.
The history of the Diricawl is deeply intertwined with the Muggle world. Muggles were once aware of the creature, which they called the “dodo,” but they believed they had hunted it to extinction during the late 17th century. In reality, the birds were simply using their teleportation ability to escape the hunters. (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (textbook)) After the dodo was declared extinct by Muggles, the International Confederation of Wizards made a significant decision. They chose not to correct the Muggle belief, allowing them to think the species was gone forever. The Confederation viewed this as an important, if grim, lesson for non-magical folk about the importance of conservation and the dire consequences of exploiting the natural world. (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (textbook))
The Diricawl is not mentioned in the seven original Harry Potter novels. Its existence and characteristics are detailed in the supplementary textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (textbook). Its story primarily serves as a piece of world-building that provides a magical explanation for a real-world event—the extinction of the dodo. It also illustrates the secretive nature of the wizarding world and its sometimes paternalistic relationship with the Muggle community.