I always thought that was a stupid battle morph.
Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic bird--my favourite, because of the Animorphs-- and a useful flight morph. But honestly, as a battle morph--if we think realistically-- Tobias would have been TOAST. T-O-A-S-T! Burnt to a crisp.
Oh, you can say he was a great flyer, and knew what he was doing and could have avoided a shot from a Dracon Beam. And, you could also go as far as saying that he did enough damage as a hawk to all the Controllers.
But honestly! Come on! These kids burst into the Yeerk Pool every other week (probably an exagerration, but I'm not going to halt my rant to check a decent timeline of all their Pool Excursions), you'd think the controllers would be expecting a BIRD flying around an underground Yeerk Pool. Just get a few guys and take aim, or infest some hunters, or something! Realistically, Tobias would have been one crisp turkey.
HE SHOULD HAVE USED THE POLAR BEAR, HORK-BAJIR AND CHEETAH THAT HE ACQUIRED! It's like, he's been given a gift--to become ANYTHING HE TOUCHES- and he says, "Nah, no thanks. I wanna be a birdie."