Garuda

Garudas are a species of intelligent giant birds in Buddhist traditions. Garuda is also a single divine creature in Hinduism.

Overview
In Buddhism, garudas are truly enormous birds with a wingspawn of a few miles. They are intelligent and capable of communication between humans. Although generally resembling a golden-winged bird, they are sometimes depicted with human heads, or otherwise human torso but with bird head.

Some of the garudas have magical powers to shift into human form, and sometimes garuda kings have had romances with human women.

In Hinduism, Garuda is the king of all birds and the mount of Hindu god Vishnu, who is the god of protection and preservation. He is most commonly depicted as a winged human, but with the head and talons of an eagle.

Personality and traits
In Buddhism, garudas are fearless beings and socialize enough to have entire cities along with elected kings. Such is their divine presence that they can be classified as lesser devas. With their massive wings, Buddhist garudas are able to cause hurricane winds.

In Hinduism, Garuda is said to be the personification of courage, and he represents birth and heaven. He is also associated with fire, which makes comparison with Phoenix myths plausible. He has wings powerful enough to stop the heaven, earth and the underworld from spinning. He is also so fast that he can be almost anywhere, any instant, and can shapeshift into any form.

Habitat and enemies
In Buddhism, garudas have built their cities in groves of silk-cotton trees. They also live on the Mount Sumeru, where they have been appointed to guard the heavenly devas from attacks by Asuras. This duty is sacred, and is enough for them to rest aside their aggressive animosity towards Nagas, who are another entities to whom guarding the mountain is attributed. Otherwise, they hunt nagas mercilessly and are usually victorious.

In Hinduism, Garuda lives in a forest called Himmapan. The King of All Birds is a celestial being who is an enemy to all snakes, which roots back in his personal history of betrayal where his mother was taken as a slave by nagas. During his mythology he combats many creatures, most of them having some serpentine features.