Queen Shearwig

The Queen Shearwig is a large mandiblard that can fly and command Shearwigs to attack intruders.

The battle starts when the Queen Shearwig burrows out of the ground alongside a group of thirty Shearwigs after they detect leaders and Pikmin. The winged insects then take flight and enter a special formation where the Queen Shearwig commands the lesser Shearwigs from the back of the group. The Queen Shearwig stays at a constant distance from leaders and Pikmin, but it occasionally shifts left or right. Periodically, one of the Shearwigs will move to the front of the pack, start spinning, and swoop down towards leaders and Pikmin, swaying slightly left and right as it goes. This spin is deadly, and any Pikmin thrown at a Shearwig in this state will bounce off without doing any damage to it. If one touches a leader, it will hurt them and throw them back slightly. When a Shearwig passes its target, regardless of whether it hit them or missed, it swoops back in from above and rejoins the group.

Pikmin can be thrown at the Shearwigs while they're providing cover for the Queen Shearwig. One throw is all it takes to take down an idle Shearwig, and any Shearwig killed this way is gone for good; it does not get replaced, and its body can be retrieved. Even after all thirty Shearwigs are gone, the Queen Shearwig will continue flying at the same distance from leaders and will continue to dash left and right randomly. Pikmin can hit the boss at any time so long as they don't hit any Shearwigs that are in the way since doing so stops their flight.

Once the Queen Shearwig's health has reached two thirds, it will fly high up and become impossible to hit by any Pikmin. Any Shearwigs following the boss will fly up with it but are still vulnerable. Then, thirty more will Shearwigs burrow out of the ground and fly up to the group. Fifteen of them will lead the group and are bundled into five groups of three. They will begin to move down towards Pikmin to abduct them and fly away with them, but they can be killed before that happens by throwing Pikmin at them. They can be killed while they are taking their prey away, which will save the captured Pikmin. After the first wave of fifteen, fifteen other Shearwigs will burrow out of the ground and join the group to repeat the same rush attack. While this happens, the Queen Shearwig will prepare an attack of its own: it will start spinning, aim towards any nearby leaders or Pikmin, and dive in a straight line in their direction without changing course. Any Pikmin thrown at the Queen Shearwig while it is spinning will bounce off of it without causing damage, and any leaders it touches during this attack will take damage and be thrown back a fair distance.

After this, the cycle repeats, but the Shearwigs attack differently: instead of going swooping down and swaying left and right, they do the same spinning attack as the Queen Shearwig. Additionally, if the idle Queen Shearwig is in the center, it will also occasionally fly up, too far to reach, and then come back down.

When its health reaches the last third, the Queen Shearwig and any remaining Shearwigs once again fly high into the air and become unreachable. Thirty more Shearwigs then burrow out of the ground and fly to the top of the group. Fifteen of them are ordered to rush to the active leader and their group of Pikmin. They surround the group and start circling it while always keeping the same distance from it, and after several seconds, swoop in all at once, hurt the leader, and take away several of the Pikmin. After the first group attacks, the second group of fifteen rushes in to do the same. Meanwhile, the Queen Shearwig prepares its attack, repeating the same spinning one from before.

After that's done, the cycle repeats and the Shearwigs use yet another attack pattern: they move to where the active leader is to attack them, but a small distance before contact, they curve back up and perform a three hundred sixty-degree loop and continue going in the same direction. The idle Queen Shearwig will once again swerve left, right, or up randomly like before, but sometimes, it will follow up a swerve with another swerve right after without waiting. When all of the Shearwigs in this phase are dead, the boss will not spawn additional reinforcements but it may still attack.