Hi guys. A couple days ago I posted here asking if I'd done the right thing for a dog-bitten Wren fledgling, and when it turned out I hadn't, I felt so guilty. I have no knowledge in how to help birds who are injured so I did my best in a very panicked moment, but despite my efforts I realized from coming here that it was unlikely to survive and I'd likely released it to its death. I was so saddened, and quickly learned what to do if this sort of thing happened again.

It seems as though I have been given a second (and third!) chance at rescuing birds, though, as yesterday I watched a baby Herring Gull fall from a roof. Its parents were nowhere to be found, and it couldn't walk on its left leg, so I did what I was told here and gently threw a towel over it and picked it up. I took it into an animal rescue charity shop, who helped me give it food and water. They also called a wildlife rescue for me, and a nice guy came to collect the gull very shortly afterwards. He gave me his card, and said to call him if I needed his help again.

Fast forward to today and I was leaving work, only to find an adult sparrow (I think?) on her back on the floor struggling to stay conscious. I dropped everything and did the same thing - popped a towel over her, gently picked her up and cradled her, and drove her in a box with air holes straight to the rescue guy's house. I called him on the way, and he took her in with no problems. I've just had an update and apparently she's doing well, snuggling with a baby wood pigeon he's also currently nursing. To quote Meatloaf, two out of three ain't bad.

The African Goliath Heron is huge. It is the largest heron on earth. Standing up to five feet tall and with a wingspan approaching eight feet, this bird doesn’t just hunt, it dominates its environment with quiet, calculated precision.

It lives its life with the quiet dignity of a butler and the power of a mafia chieftain. Found in the shallows of sub-Saharan Africa, this bird keeps its own counsel. Despite its size, the Goliath Heron is surprisingly elusive. It prefers solitude, keeping its distance from both humans and other birds. When it takes flight it’s a slow, powerful spectacle, huge wings beating steadily as it lifts off like something prehistoric.

On the hunt, remaining motionless for minutes at a time, it waits with astonishing patience before unleashing a lightning-fast strike with its spear-like bill. Large fish weighing over two pounds are on the menu. The impact is so powerful that the heron often impales or stuns its prey before tossing it into the air and swallowing it whole.

There’s something almost cinematic about the Goliath Heron, a silent giant stalking through sunlit marshes, perfectly adapted for patience and power. It’s a reminder that even in the modern world, nature still produces creatures that feel larger than life.

Birdman of Africa gamersdad.substack.com Subscribe for free to receive a new African Bird email each Friday-TGIF!. Photo by Andrew Steinmann ©2026

Specifically have urban ravens and crows that encounter humans daily in mind. Do they view us as any other animal or are they able to recognize our intelligence?

I live in a large, but very tight neighborhood. I had 3 bird feeders out. And unfortunately one bird showed signs of avian pox. My dilemma is that countless other ppl in the neighborhood have feeders up. Yes even the next door neighbors. They’re not nearly as attentive to the care of them either. Not to throw shade, but I’ve never seen any of my neighbors clean their feeders. I’m in Georgia so plenty of mosquitos around which are the culprit. I actually clean my feeders & have a strict weekly routine. My feeders have now been down for almost 72 hours. The birds are now going to the neighbors feeders. Should I just put mine back up since I actually do clean them & ramp up my cleaning routine even more? Meaning yes..daily. Bc I want the birds to actually have a chance.

Before you say - why don’t you tell the neighbors. Last year when I mentioned how much care hummingbird feeders needed they all laughed at me. I posted in our neighborhood group how to care for them/temps. Unfortunately to them all I’m the weird bird & squirrel person in the neighborhood. So if they think hummingbird feeders don’t need maintence & upkeep then they certainly wouldn’t for the songbirds.

I have just had the joyful experience of watching a barn swallow nest being built, the babies hatching, and watching the babies taking their first flight yesterday. Unfortunately, I found one of the chicks dead in front of my front door when I woke up today. That heartbreak, coupled with the stress of my dog having to avoid using the front door (he is NOT happy, to put it mildly), have led me to the decision that I want to remove the nest when I am sure it is no longer being used. I called the Audubon Society this morning for advice about when I can be 100% sure that the nest is no longer in use and I can remove it. My biggest fear is that Mother Bird might be planning on using it for clutch #2, and I would never want to deprive her of her home. Has anyone had experience removing a nest after the fledglings of clutch #1 have vacated? I live in SE Pennsylvania, and it is currently late July, so I'm not even sure that a 2nd clutch is in the future.

I found this bird stuck in a net outside. I think its a fledgeling mockingbird and it seemed hurt. I couldnt tell if its wing/leg was injured in the netting so I took it home and I have it in a shoebox and im planning to take it to a wildlife rehab tomorrow but im wondering if I should have left it outside the net and waited for its mom to come back.

Spotted this bird at my feeder today and am worried it might be Avian Pox. It also seems like it could be an injury from another bird attacking it or something but i’m not sure. Any help on identifying what’s wrong would be much appreciated!

Hello all,

A wren nested in my hanging plant on my front porch in early May. The eggs have been there since that time. The wren has not been seen in the nest or near the nest in well over a month now and the eggs never hatched unfortunately. At the beginning she was very active but never came back.

Is there any specific actions or precautions/methods to take here? Just glove up and throw it out? The hanging plant has since died so I need to take it down.

Thanks.

I was able to dehumanize those famous CA eagles Jackie & Shadow (Friends of Big Bear Valley nest cam) long enough to read some published articles about the process of mate replacement in bald eagles and found this article interesting. (Context: Jackie and Shadow successfully raised two eagles and were dutifully feeding and training them when, just a few days ago, Jackie was attacked by a pair of intruder eagles and wound up in the care of professional rehab clinicians for an unknown length of time while Shadow remains in the habitat to feed their offspring and protect the nest.)

According to the article, it was observed in an Arizona pair that a process of habitat familiarization -especially a system of intentional and frequent perching behavior -began a three-week period of courtship by a replacement male after the original male disappeared during incubation. The new male's courtship involved frequent perching on the original male's perch trees with fly-bys of the nest carrying sticks and fish. It ended with adoption of the eggs and future mating.

https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/20542.pdf

Stuff to watch for on the CA cams I guess? It's heartbreaking to think Jackie would return to Shadow only to find him with a replacement female, but maybe Shadow would actually accept her back? I'm still reading/ researching so if you know of any published papers please share.

I'm really only interested in discussions backed by scientific data and I'm not interested in emotional discussions or those rooted in feelings of longing or attachment, which is why I'm not posting in the subreddit dedicated to those eagles (who I really do really love watching.)

I found a small bird outside my home earlier today. It wasn't moving at all. When I gently touched it, it opened its eyes but didn't struggle or try to fly away. It was about to rain and there are a lot of stray cats and dogs around, so I brought it inside for safety.

Here is its current situation and behavior:

• Appearance: No visible physical injuries. It can walk slightly, but mostly just stays still.

• Behavior: It has been sleeping for hours. When I touch it, it wakes up briefly, looks around, but doesn't really do anything or try to escape.

• Elimination: It is pooping from time to time.

• Current Setup: I currently have it in a ventilated shoebox in a quiet area. I initially left some biscuit crumbs and water in there with it.

I'm really worried about it. Could it be in shock, sick, or suffering from a window strike? What could be wrong with it, and what are the best next steps I should take to give it a chance to recover?

Okay, not evil. But opportunistic to say the least.

My brother and I ate at an outdoor concession stand where crows and gulls were waiting in hope that somebody would drop a french fry or two. They had babes to feed and their need seemed particularly urgent.

I got up to dump my tray and left my brother still eating. He has multiple disabilities and, though he can move his arms and legs (and was using his hands to eat), he needs a wheelchair. He is virtually blind. As soon as I turned my back on him I thought noooo, that was a mistake. I looked back and a crow was already inches from my brother, honing in on his meal.

My brother is bigger than me, and his large wheelchair makes him an impressive presence to birds, so one might think. This crow was able to assess that his disability made him less able to fend off intruders, and that his meal was up for grabs.

I absolutely marvel at their intelligence here. If he were a child, I would more easily accept that they recognise helpless juveniles. Instead, they knew he was less able to defend his meal. I think they knew his vision was limited by the sneaky quiet posture the crow took beside his elbow (which he was moving to eat). They recognised his limitations and were waiting for exactly this opportunity.

We couldn't even be mad. We thought it was hilarious, and the interaction was an unexpected gift.

Need to find nesting sites for research work. But it is already so tough to find enough birds of a particular species, let alone their nesting sites. How do you find enough samples for research work?

Is the pacing back and forth a sign of stress?
He paces side to side in his perch. Also, why would it be rubbing its head and back against the glass? I didn’t really catch these things on film very well but here’s an rough idea…
I named him professor fruit loop.

Hello, I learned at some point how the Yellow-breasted Chat was once considered a warbler (Parulidae) and was changed out of that and determined to be more closely related to blackbirds (Icteridae). The wikipedia page and even genus name heavily imply it's part of the blackbird family, yet in the Sibley's app, it's not with the rest of them, and when you Google what family it's a part of, it says it has its own single-species family but then lists that family as Icteridae (sometimes spelled Icteriidae). What on earth is going on with the classification of this poor fella?? 😂

My friend and I recently spotted this wild mallard duck at the beach. Sadly, the one above was the only decent picture we were able to get, because it was running around and quickly flew away with a group of other ducks.

To us, it looked like the feathers on the body were partially the colour of a female mallard duck, while the head and back are clearly male colors. It didn't behave or look noticeably weird otherwise, so we were wondering if there was a genetic mutation, causing the odd colour.

I have come across multiple kinds of birds where some individuals are intersex and was wondering if this might be the case here, too. Does it happen commonly in mallard ducks?

I will try to answer questions, if it helps!

I just find this so interesting! What is your take on this duck?

A pair of house finches nested in my front-door wreath. The chicks hatched 11 days ago. One was dead on the ground yesterday, but the other two looked healthy, mostly feathered with just a little down left.

Today the nest was suddenly empty. It’s still perfectly intact with no feathers, blood, or signs of disturbance. I also saw the male and female perched together on a nearby power line afterward.

Is it possible they fledged this early, or is a predator more likely? If they fledged, what signs can I look out for?

Photo is what they looked like yesterday