It is no mystery where Howler Drakes got their names. Though not very bright, these emotive creatures employ an impressive vocabulary of loud chortles, shrieks, and songs to communicate with one another, and almost never stop chattering. Howler Drakes inhabit dense jungles, foraging in the fertile soil for mushrooms, tubers, and insects. When threatened, a Howler will flare its wings to display its bright red eye spots, while letting out an ear-splitting scream.

Though it may appear at first that dragons and drakes have much in common, the two are completely separate species. Drakes are smaller and less intelligent than their cousin species, though both dragons and drakes sit comfortably near the top of the food chain. They are always found bearing antlers and leathery wings. Drakes share many of the same habitats that dragons do, and typically hunt in packs.

Iona was raised by a farmer, who found her egg in a rock crevice inside the remains of a fire-devastated wood on the edge of his lands. He brought the fragile egg home and warmed it by the fireside until it hatched.

The little drake hatchling was adopted by old McDonald's sheepdog, a young collie named Kep. The pair were often seen in the fields together, Kep teaching Iona how to herd the sheep that were the farmer's main source of income.

There was some controversy the first time old McDonald entered Iona into a sheepdog trial, mainly centred around the fact that, however much she acts like one, Iona isn't actually a sheepdog.

Kep passed away not long after Iona's wings started to grow, and old McDonald barely lived to see the drake mature and lay her first egg, but Iona remained at the McDonald farm where she grew up. She still herds sheep for the latest generation of McDonald farmers, and still wins the trials whenever she is allowed to enter, every five years at minimum.