How do you tame a Hesperornis in ARK: Survival Ascended?

The Hesperornis is a passive tame. Approach it carefully without startling it and place its preferred food in your last hotbar slot, then feed it by hand.

Where can you find Hesperornis in ARK: Survival Ascended?

Check the interactive spawn map on the Hesperornis spawn location page for exact spawn zones across all ARK maps. Spawn density and locations vary by map.

How long does it take to raise a baby Hesperornis?

A baby Hesperornis takes 1 day and 4 hours to reach full maturity. Eggs must be incubated between 22°C and 30°C. Use a breeding calculator for imprint timing and food requirements.

Hesperornis Taming, Breeding & Spawns - ARK: Survival Ascended

Hesperornis

MISC

Hesperornis

Spawn Command

Information

Level

Preset

Official servers currently have boosted rates! You don't need to change settings in our calculator.

Base Settings

Variant

Taming Speed

Spawn Locations

15 mapsFull Map →

The Hesperornis spawns on 15 maps, typically found in oceans, deep rivers, and underwater caves. Green cells indicate high spawn density, red means low. Click a cell to see exact spawn chance. If you can't find any, try clearing creatures nearby to free up the population cap.

Official

Mod Maps

Map Legend

High spawn density

Medium spawn density

Low spawn density

Cave spawn

Click any cell for exact spawn chance and nearby spawn groups. Zoom in for detail.

Explore full interactive mapAstraeos →

Hesperornis Taming Calculator

Open Calculator→

PassiveLv.150

Breeding

Open Calculator →

TypeEgg Layer

Incubation Temp22°C – 30°C

Maturation Time1d 4h

XP Calculator

Full Calculator →

Kill XP

Wild Kill (1.25×)

Creature Level

Kill Count

Per Kill40 XP

0.5 base × 15.9 level × 4 × 1.25× wild kill × 1× server

Server Settings(Game.ini)

Official servers use non-1× defaults for kill-type multipliers. Adjust these if your server uses custom Game.ini values.

Server XP

Wild Kill

Tamed Kill

Alpha Kill

Cave Kill

Boss Kill

Drops & Harvest Resources

Harvesting a dead Hesperornis yields Hide, Raw Meat, Organic Polymer, Organic Polymer. The corpse has 100 harvest health, allowing multiple hits before it's fully depleted.

Different tools yield different quantities - check the table below to pick the right tool for the resource you need. Generally, a Pick favors meat while a Hatchet favors hide and secondary materials.

Harvest Body HP

Melee Damage

Weapon Damage

Harvest Multiplier

Resource	Pick	Hatchet	Club
Hide	40%~4~4 hits	60%~6~3 hits	40%~2~20 hits
Raw Meat	60%~5~4 hits	40%~3~3 hits	60%~3~20 hits
Organic Polymer	40%~2~4 hits	30%~2~3 hits	130%~13~20 hits
Organic Polymer	70%~5~4 hits	40%~3~3 hits	150%~23~20 hits

Estimates based on game-extracted data (weights, quantities, harvest multipliers, damage type chains). Each harvest event independently rolls each resource - higher weight = higher drop chance. Actual yields vary with RNG.

Damage Resistances

Incoming damage to the Hesperornis is modified by 13 different type-specific multipliers. It shrugs off 7 damage types but is weak to 5, with its worst vulnerability at +120%. Focus damage there for maximum efficiency. See the full breakdown in the table below. Values under 100% indicate resistance, above 100% indicate weakness.

MiningDrill Harvest

0%-100%

Dino AttacksStandard dino melee hits

50%-50%

Plant Species XPlant turret projectiles

50%-50%

Herbivore DinoHerbivore dino attacks

60%-40%

Stone WeaponsClub, slingshot (high torpor)

66%-34%

GenericFall damage, environmental

70%-30%

Base Stats

Full Stats →

Stat	Base (Lv.1)	Wild +/Lv	Tamed +/Lv
Health	95.0	+19.00	+4.00%
Stamina	200.0	+20.00	+2.00%
Torpidity	300.0	+0.00	+0.00%
Oxygen	150.0	+15.00	+2.00%
Food	900.0	+90.00	+2.00%
Weight	70.0	+1.40	+0.80%
Melee Damage Multiplier	100.0%	+5.00%	+10.00%
Speed Multiplier	100.0%	+0.00%	+1.00%

Hitbox Multipliers

Aiming matters - the Hesperornis has 1 hitbox region with distinct damage modifiers. The Head is the most vulnerable spot at 3x damage - aim there for maximum DPS.

Headc_head

3.00x

Can Damage

The Hesperornis can damage: Thatch, Wood. Lower-tier structures are at risk - Stone walls or better will keep the Hesperornis out.

Thatch

Wood

Stone

Metal

Tek

Tools & Guides

Taming CalculatorFood, narcotics, and time for any level

Breeding CalculatorMaturation, imprint timers, raising costs

BuildingsCommunity traps, pens, enclosures

AbilitiesAttacks, harvest specs, unique skills

Tips & TricksCommunity strategies and advice

Spawn LocationInteractive maps with spawn zones

Spawn CommandAdmin commands, all variants

Hesperornis Tips & Tricks

Browse survivor-submitted tips and strategies for the Hesperornis. Tips typically cover approach strategies, recommended food, and how to avoid spooking the Hesperornis mid-tame.

Everything you need to know about the Hesperornis in ARK: Survival Ascended is collected here. Use the stat overview, taming summary, and breeding details below to plan your approach, then explore the dedicated tool pages for step-by-step help.

At base level the Hesperornis has 95 base Health, 100% base Melee Damage, 70 base Weight. Use the taming calculator to project how these stats grow through wild levels and taming effectiveness.

The Hesperornis is a passive tame — approach carefully and hand-feed it without knocking it out. See the taming calculator for exact food counts and timing.

Breeding Hesperorniss produces fertilized eggs that need incubation between 22°C and 30°C. Full maturation takes 1 day and 4 hours. Use the breeding calculator for imprint timers and food requirements.

Once tamed, the Hesperornis can harvest Hide, Raw Meat, Organic Polymer, Organic Polymer. Visit the information tab for the full harvest table with quantities and efficiency data.

The Hesperornis is a tamable, aquatic, piscivore creature in ARK: Survival Ascended. Classified under the Misc group.

Melee starts at 100% - solid damage output that scales with level-ups. Health-wise, the Hesperornis sits at 95 base, making it very frail. With 200 base Stamina, the Hesperornis has decent staying power. A base Weight of 70 means not built for hauling.

This is a passive tame: no tranquilizers needed. Get close without startling it, then offer food from your last hotbar slot.

As a tame, the Hesperornis is well-suited for deep-sea exploration, cave diving, and ocean resource runs. Breeding produces fertilized eggs that hatch within a 22°C–30°C temperature window. Defeating one in the wild grants 0.5 base XP. It can be cloned at a Cloning Chamber for 0.25 Element plus 0.01 Element per level.

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