I came across this graphic this afternoon (I find it relaxing to explore sci-fi trivia)
http://www.robinomicon.com/p/realtime-3d/betelgeusian-star-cruiser/
Rob Mayer is the author and the artist, and his work is astounding to behold. It begs to be used in the Trek literature, as far as I'm concerned. The artist describes inspiration from Phoenician and Aztec influences.
The Betelgeusians are my personal favorite conjectural species in Star Trek, and I enjoy seeing their developments in the books, such as Ex Machina or Titan: Over a Torrent Sea. Apparently author Chrisopher L. Bennett is fond of this species, and I am glad to have him on my side ;-)
While this species is believed to be essentially avian, I have to wonder if they are flightless. I would assume so, since I have seen no evidence of wings...
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Betelgeusian
In the book Ex Machina the species is described as having abandoned their homeworld as it became unstable, living primarily on ships and other space facilities, living a nomadic lifestyle. Some would even call them peregrine (yes, that was a pun). One Betelgeusian character muses that the V'GER incident demonstrates the intrinsic flaws in living on any one planet. In real science, the Betelgeuse star is indeed supposed to be approaching a supernova. The timescale for such an event is debated; it could be within humanity's experience or in the order of several millennia.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse
I also found this website, which is a direct duplicate of the design for the former artist rendering, although the graphics are different. (As I understand it), a resourceful man named Gustavo Munoz asked permission and took the pure art and turned it into a playable model for the computer game Bridge Commander. This elegant craft can be appreciated from many angles and in many environments:
http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/file/Juvaclass_Betelgeusian_Star_Cruiser;99927
Interestingly for me, I discovered why the Betelgeusians of Star Trek had a name reminiscent of a sophomoric movie, Beetlejuice. Apparently, the real star Betelgeuse is so famous that is has spawned numerous references in fiction of all sorts, including comic films.
A Romulan battle fleet of conjectural designs was also very much worth a look:
Oh, and it's in the bottom left corner.
http://www.robinomicon.com/p/realtime-3d/star-trek-restyled/
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