A large, ferocious, birdlike flying creature that is actually a motile plant, like much of the life on its native planet Phylos. Swoopers typically measure more than five meters in length, and make strafing dives on their prey, held aloft by their long purple wings. Essentially mindless creatures, swoopers were specially trained for attack by Dr. Stavos Keniclius 5, who used the animals to protect his genetic engineering laboratories on Phylos. On stardate 5554.4 (2269), Keniclius 5 used the creatures to capture the U.S.S. Enterprise's first officer Commander Spock, whom Keniclius 5 used as a cloning template.