Month of HZD: Stormbirds are the worst

Of all the mechanized terrors that Aloy faces, you might think that the Thunderjaw, a robotic T-rex, is the most fierce. But no Thunderjaw in the game has given me as much trouble as the Stormbirds have. These oversized eagles are equally hard to evade and to hit, by virtue of their flight, and they are my least favorite enemy to face. I didn't beat a Stormbird until a mission for the Hunters' Lodge forced me to do so, and even then, it took me repeated tries.

This screenshot is of the first Stormbird I encountered in the game, before I knew how devastating they were. See how I'm getting ready to shoot an arrow at him, like I know what I'm doing? I don't.