Gubru

The Gubru are a fictional extraterrestrial race in David Brin's Uplift Universe series. Their full name is Gubru ab-Gooksyu-ul-Kwackoo-ul-Okukoo.

General information

The Gubru are an avian race. Most Gubru are neuter and white in color, but after consumption of certain hormones, triads of Gubru begin a path toward gender and sexual maturity. These triads are considered royalty, with the queens a deep red color, and the princes blue and green. Two princes are required to fertilize a queen's eggs, and the queens are the top of the hierarchy. The process by which it is determined which member of the triad will become which gender is a complex one. Each has an assumed role as Suzerain of Beam and Talon, Propriety, or Cost and Caution, and in their search for a policy, the member whose ideas are most successful becomes the dominant queen.

They are a fanatic race, among those who believe that military action is justified and necessary before the return of the Progenitors. They are prominent among the races in the battle over Kithrup in Startide Rising. In The Uplift War, they make an effort to force EarthClan to reveal the whereabouts of the Streaker by occupying Garth, one of Earth's colonies, populated primarily only with Humans and Chimpanzees, resulting in a guerrilla war.