Nevermore

The Nevermore  is a species of Grimm and the only avian species seen thus far. It is first encountered by Team RWBY during the Beacon Academy Initiation test and is featured in Episode 8, although it appears that a smaller, possibly juvenille, member of the species is the 'Birdie' that Ruby Rose strikes during her descent into the forest in the episode The Emerald Forest. It is also seen briefly in the Opening, during the group shot of the Creatures of Grimm.

The First Step, Pt.2
While landing in the Emerald Forest, Ruby Rose accidently kills a small Nevermore on her way down.

Players and Pieces
As part of one of Ruby's plans, her and Weiss Schnee ride on the back of a large Nevermore in the hopes of reaching the abandoned temple. When Weiss becomes angered at Ruby's idea, Ruby suggests that they jump off the large bird and then proceeds to do so, leaving the very hesitant Weiss behind. The Nevermore begins to circle around and eventually Weiss loses her grip, sending her plummeting towards the ground before being "rescued" by Jaune. The Nevermore continues to circle around the group of students and even pins Ruby to the ground by using its feathers as flying daggers. Ruby escapes, however, with help from Weiss. As the students each grab a relic, they run back to the cliffs with the Nevermore following closely behind.

While attacking the students, Blake lands on its back and hits it with multiple strikes, which don't seem to even hurt the bird. After Blake returns to the group, Yang suggests hitting it with everything they have, but this fails as well, and Yang attacks it on her own. The Nevermore begins to focus on attacking Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Blake until Ruby comes up with a plan to beat it. Yang forces it on the ground before Weiss freezes its tail feathers to the stone. Blake then uses her ribbon as a large slingshot, and Weiss uses Myrtenaster's Dust capabilities to launch Ruby. Ruby uses the blade of Crescent Rose to hook the Nevermore's neck and then drag it up the cliff with the aid of Weiss, who uses her Dust abilities to launch Ruby upward. Once at the top of the cliff, Ruby manages to sever the bird's head, killing it.

Appearance
The Nevermore is a very large avian that has features resembling those of several other bird species. Two notable examples of this are its resemblances to condors and ravens. Like other Creatures of Grimm, it has a mask-like white bony structure overlaying the upper front of its head. It also has four glowing red eyes, two on each side of its head. The headpiece also includes a dorsal spine or fin, reminiscent of that on the heads of condors and some ancient Pterosaurs.

Interestingly, the Nevermore is seen to have two clawed "fingers" extending forwards from the outermost wing joint. This is a feature not seen in any contemporary birds on Earth. It is most closely matched by pseudo-fingers seen on the outer wing joints of ancient proto-birds like Archaeopteryx. The Nevermore is generally reminiscent of the Archaeopteryx in many ways, although it is many multiples larger, even in its smallest seen form.

Abilities & Powers
Even for its size, the Nevermore seems to have the ability of easily swooping down for an attack where it gains momentum in going straight back up. It's shown to have a tremendous amount of strength as seen when it was able to destroy a large stone structure with just one hit, as well as ramming itself into a stone bridge with little consequence.

Additionally, it is shown to be highly durable as it is hit several times by shots fired by the RWBY team, yet appears to be unaffected and continues flying. Even when Yang shoots five blasts straight into its mouth, it is only disoriented for a few seconds. Blake as well hit it several times when on its back with no visible damage to the bird. This super-large Nevermore is only defeated after Ruby seemingly cuts through its neck with Crescent Rose whilst dragging it up a hundred-foot cliff-face with the help of her team.

The Nevermore is the first creature of Grimm shown to have a ranged attack. During Players and Pieces, it is twice shown throwing wing feathers, which act like a volley of arrows with an effective range in the hundreds of yards. The only other attack used is a battering ram-like attack, flying and shattering parts of monuments using its bony head-piece.

Trivia

 * The name "Nevermore" is a reference to Edgar Allen Poe's poem, "The Raven".
 * There have been 3 different sizes of Nevermore seen so far, a very small one which Ruby crashes into, one slightly larger than an Ursa shown in the intro and the large one which team RWBY fights.
 * The Nevermore appears in the Opening, flying out over other creatures of the Grimm. This could possibly mean that it will appear in later episodes.
 * It is the only known avian species thus far and the fifth species of Grimm introduced in the series.
 * It is also one of the largest Grimm specimen.
 * It is also the first to display an attack ability other than just charging or clawing.