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Minecraft Mob Idea - Roc — Description
I has Techne nao!

This is not actually my original idea, it was suggested by texTnummbers22 over at the Minecraft Forums, and I offered to provide concept art for it. This person proposed the addition of a new neutral mob: the Roc, a giant bird of prey. The idea is that it would pick up animals in its talons and carry them back to its nest. If the player attacks it, it will become aggressive and fight the player, either by striking with its beak or picking them up and dropping them from a height. I liked the idea enough that I promptly decided to make a model of this thing, both adult and hatchling; I plan to create the drops and recipes as well soon.
Funny thing - when I modeled the adult, I scaled up the chick and modified it, but then I noticed that at the scale at which I modeled it, it's only about the same size as the player. After trying (and failing) to figure out how to globally scale up the whole model, I decided to hell with it and proposed another game mechanic. Roc eggs and chicks were already included in the OP, so I decided that like real-life birds, the baby will become a fledgling should it survive with enough food for a few days. The fledgling is to the scale of the "adult" model, but the adult itself will be twice as big. Stages of growth could also be worked in, the size could change gradually with each day until the roc reaches its adult size.
With this in mind, I've included some concept sketches as well as the Techne models I made. And with that, here's the descriptions I came up with...

Roc (Baby)
Alignment: Neutral (hostile if either provoked or not fed for 1 day; tamed with 10-15 Raw or Cooked Beef/Porkchops, 15-20 Raw or Cooked Chicken/Fish, or 20-30 Rotten Flesh per day for 3 days)
Health: 16 (8x )
Damage: 2 (easy), 4 (normal), 6 (hard)
Spawn: Extreme Hills (Roc Nest; hatch from Roc Egg)
Drops: 1 Roc Breast
Experience: 2-3
The newly hatched offspring of a giant bird of prey, Baby Rocs may look goofy, but don't be fooled - they are as dangerous as their parents when irritated. There are two ways to make them upset - you can either bop 'em on the head, or simply don't feed them. They'll follow anyone with meat, in their inventory or on their person (meaning they'll attack animals bought to the nest, or follow players with meat on hand). To avoid their wrath, you'll have to bring plenty of meat, because the growing babies will need to eat at least 10 pieces of meat per day (raw or cooked; you can use Rotten Flesh too, but you'll have to feed the baby double the amount if you choose to do so). Keep the baby fed for several days, and you'll have a new friend that'll follow you around and help you hunt. Fail to achieve the quota, and the chick may decide to make a meal out of you instead!
As you can probably guess by now, it'll be easiest to take home the Roc Egg (similar to the Enderdragon egg, only white as a pearl) and hatch the baby yourself. That way, the baby will be less likely to turn hostile (i.e. imprinting on the player), and you won't have to worry about the hostilities that may arise when its parents return...

Roc (Adult)
Alignment: Neutral (hostile if provoked)
Health: 60 (30x - sorry, made a derp in the concept sketch XP)
Damage: 8 (easy), 10 (normal), 12 (hard)
Spawn: Extreme Hills (Roc Ravine)
Drops: 2-3 Roc Breast, 0-2 Roc Feathers, 0-2 Roc Talons (rare)
Experience: 5
This terror from above attacks your livestock, seizing it in its claws and carrying it back to its ravenous chicks. Interrupt its routine, and it will gladly add you to the menu. It has three modes of attack - hacking at your face with its lethal hooked beak, picking you up in its talons and dropping you to your death, or blowing you off into the horizon with a powerful gust of wind from its huge wings. If picking up an entity, it will remain close to the ground for a few seconds as it adjusts its grip, giving you enough time to harass it into dropping its intended lunch. Interestingly, it has a dislike of household pets such as cats and wolves, which will instinctively keep the bird at bay and may even drive it off occasionally - but the roc may also turn on your pet instead, snatching him/her up like any other peaceful mob.
Rocs mate for life, and adults will always spawn in groups of two around a single Roc's Nest at the top of an ore-filled ravine. You can mine the riches that can be found there without too much trouble, but plundering the nest itself would be much more of a chore. One of the parents will stay behind to guard the nest while the other goes hunting. The parents won't mind if you come in peace (and a lot of meat) and help in caring for the children for a few days - these birds would like a babysitter, and the sooner their kids fly the coop, the better. If you try to steal an egg or attack a baby, though, either the stay-at-home parent or the babies will call for backup. Then you'll have to deal with the whole family - and unless you have a full suit of enchanted butter armor, you might as well do an about face and walk in the opposite direction!
Should you successfully take home and tame a baby Roc, caring for it for a long enough period (about 8-10 days) will allow it to grow out its adult feathers, and starting from the fledgling stage, it will be able to pick you up with its talons. Using its beak to fend off threatening hostiles, it can then carry you to high places and fend off enemies from above. This makes for an especially intimidating entrance when the bird grows into its adult size, a bit smaller than the Enderdragon; once able to hunt for itself, it will kill and devour any hostile mobs that try to hurt you. Be warned, however - an adult Roc, even a tamed one, will retain its dislike for your other pets, which won't pass up an opportunity to annoy your bird whenever possible.

(Mob drops coming soon!)

Minecraft (c) Mojang
Original idea (c) texTnummbers22, expanded by me