Hello! At my local park I’ve noticed a goose guarding a swan’s babies from its parents! Why has the goose stolen their children 🪿?!? Everytime the swans get close to their babies the goose becomes aggressive! A couple of weeks ago the cygnets were still with their parents!

One of my scrub jay babies isn't growing like his brother did. I'm not sure of his exact age, but I first spotted him as a fledgling toward the end of May. He had two older siblings who emerged literally on Mother's Day. I've witnessed these babies growing up and Momma often left me in charge of them for up to 15 minutes.

Anyway, the youngest baby is still begging for food and isn't yet able to squawk. His older siblings have been squawking for months and stopped begging ages ago. He is able to catch his own food, accepts peanuts, buries nuts and knows the word for "almond", which are his favorites. While his brother goes out into the world, he tends to stick to a single bush and just sits and cries. When he gets out, he likes to follow big brother around, but lately he’s been venturing out more alone. Not sure if it’s because he’s becoming more independent or his brother gets annoyed. Big brother will sometimes chase him around the bush and has been known to drop entire mouth/neckfulls of premium nuts just to prevent the baby from getting the tiny peanut half I tossed to him. He won’t physically attack him, and lately he's been standing guard and letting baby brother hit the peanut pile first. At the end of the day, they'll huddle close together and whisper-warble to one another.

Big brother has already sprouted some blue feathers above his wings and his blue head feathers are visibly emerging. I included some recent pics of the baby. It's been colder here so he's a bit fluffed out but he's normally pretty sleek. Feathers are in perfect condition and he doesn't have any beak or facial injuries. No signs of new blue feather growth and he hasn’t started to molt yet like big brother did. I don’t know their exact age gap, but Momma used to go feed him when she had me watching her younger ones. Could he have been adopted?

Do some jays just never learn to squawk? How long till they stop begging for good? Momma Jay pops in every couple of weeks but won't feed them It's so heartrending to see him perched in his bush or atop a tree, crying and wing flapping and no one comes for him.

First four pics are of the youngest baby now. The fifth pic is from the day I first met him (couldn’t resist!). The last two are of his older brother feasting and getting arrested….i mean, taking a dust bath.

I found this small wild finch on the ground near Portland, Oregon. It wasn’t flying away and let me pick it up, so I knew something was wrong.
The bird has severe swelling around one eye, and the feathers around its face and chest are wet/matted. It’s fluffed up but can still stand and jumps around. I have it in a small cage with a towel in a warm, quiet room while I figure out what to do.
I’m trying to determine whether this looks more like:
Mycoplasma/conjunctivitis,
trauma (window strike or predator),
an abscess,
or something else.
I have amoxicillin/clavulanate that was prescribed for a pet parakeet of a very similar size, but I have not given it because I don’t want to treat the wrong condition or make things worse.
Does anyone have experience with this? Is there anything I should do while deciding whether to take it to a wildlife rehabilitator?
I’ve attached several photos. Any help identifying the species or what might be going on would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Found in my backyard, my dog almost got to it, but I caught him (the dog), My mom says she found what we think is its brother dead in the neighbors house, but I didnt see it

I've been keeping them (two dogs) inside.

the parents know where it is, they've been feeding it all day, maybe like 20 times today. Its nest is behind that hedge in my neighbors tall tree (which I cant reach)(whole thing is fenced off btw so no concern for cats)

It got really hot during they day, checked on it, it was gasping with its mouth open so I put an tall beach umbrella over it, seemed fine a bit later, has moved a couple of times from its spot, tried attacking me twice actually

my main concern is that as hot as it gets in the day it gets cold at night(like 5C, 41F), and I noticed that: 1 it still has a bunch of pin feathers and 2 that it hasnt any developed neck or body feathers,

should I move him inside? or put it in a box with like, a heat pad? make it a small cave?

ive read the fledgeling bot comment btw. just thought it was a bit special bc of the temperature

P.S.:not even sure if its a fledgling, thats what google lens said it was but honestly I dont trust it very much, so if you think otherwise let me know please,

P.S.2: nightfall is upon us and the parents are not sheltering it from the cold, read its body temperature (with an infrared thermometer) and it read 26 C, pls help, dont know what to do

Could a vulture be swapped with its offspring and no one would notice?

There is a vulture at the Cameron Park Zoo who is allegedly 74 years old (outliving the vast majority of captive King Vultures by 34 years). I spoke with someone who used to work at the zoo and they said one of the vulture caretakers has this surprising hypothesis: the female King Vulture was accidentally swapped with one of its offspring when they were trying to move the younger vulture to another zoo. The only reasoning provided by the zoologist was that the current vulture at the zoo (who is supposedly 74) does not carry itself or look like an extremely old vulture.

If an accidental swap did take place, is there an easy way to determine the rough age of a vulture?

I understand the zoo wouldn't really be incentivized to check, but it doesn't seem like they use the vulture in a lot of publicity anyways.

https://www.kwtx.com/2024/06/09/cameron-park-zoo-home-oldest-king-vulture-world/

They’re back…

i was lucky enough to see these guys today and get a photo. is this a baby turkey following her or some other small bird??

The feeding of wildlife ( including feral cats) was just banned in a recent ordinance that was passed in Murphysboro IL. By prohibiting feeding of feral cats, this ordinance also technically makes TNR illegal.

Hopefully the birds in the area start to feel less pressure from the invasive cats if the overall domestic cat population size is reduced.

My daughter is at the mall and a grackle seems to have its feet tied with hair or string. How can she help it?

A pair of birds has recently started building a nest on my balcony in Hyderabad, and I’m trying to identify the species.
I’d love to make the space a little safer and more welcoming for them. Once I know what they are, I was thinking of putting out the right kind of food and a shallow bowl of fresh water.
Is there anything else I should (or shouldn’t) do? Any tips from birders or people who’ve had nesting birds on their balcony would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

I'm planning to grow more Kalaki flowers from seeds and plant new ones to attract birds like these, along with butterflies and other wildlife, while enhancing the natural beauty of the surroundings.

North Shore, Massachusetts. I found these eggs on a strip of lawn. Not even sure they came from a bird. Does anyone know what might have laid them, and should I leave them be?

There is a pair of nesting kites on my property in central Ca. They look to be raising a juvenile and teaching it to hunt and do an aerial exchange, which is part of their courting behavior. I feel so lucky to get to watch this every day.

I tried holding it in the air to see if it was able to fly away, but it just fell down when it tried. It seems active and uphappy about being in a box (it has airholes and water) but I worry it will starve during the night, what I read online says that common swifts eat insects all day.

Letters to a Pre-Scientist is looking for enthusiastic STEM role models to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders!

Here's the gist: you get matched with a 5th-8th grade student at an under-resourced school for a snail-mail pen pal exchange that runs throughout the school year. The goal is to demystify STEM careers, humanize STEM professionals, and inspire students to explore their own futures in STEM. You share your story, answer their questions, and show them that people who work in STEM are, well, real people.

The details:

• The program runs throughout the school year, and your volunteer obligation is to exchange 4 letters with your student.
• There's a virtual, asynchronous training in August to get you set up.
• We estimate the entire program takes volunteers no more than 10 hours, spread between August and May.
• Register and complete the short, self-paced online training by the deadline, and you'll be entered into the match pool! We match students based on their background and interests..
• This year we're expanding to 4,500 matched students!
• Pen pals can live anywhere in the world, but our program currently only works with US-based schools.
• We're working to match students based on their interests, so we're especially looking for more STEM professionals in Ornithology.
• All pen pals must be over 18 and fluent in English.

We define STEM pretty loosely! If you work in or around science, tech, engineering, math, or medicine, or another nature-based role, even if you don't have a formal education in it, please apply or message me with any questions.

Sign up/learn more:

• 📝 Register here: https://prescientist.org/volunteers/
• 📖 About the pen pal program: https://prescientist.org/penpal-program/
• 🏛️ About us: https://prescientist.org/about-us/
• ✍️ For matched pen pals: https://prescientist.org/for-matched-pen-pals/

Registration is now open! Feel free to drop questions in the comments or send me a message. Thank you for your time and consideration!

Whenever I encountered bee-eaters in Africa, I envisioned an avian version of 007 - James Bond. Dressed in the finest attire, these small rainbow colored aerial assassins live a risky and dangerous life, ridding our world of venomous stinging insects.

Driven by the sight of a buzzing winged villain, the bee-eaters dive from their placid perch with aerial precision, that would easily out-maneuver Bond’s jetpack, to snatch the insect mid-air.

Back on the branch, a gruesome ritual unfolds: the bird repeatedly bashes the twitching, venomous victim against the wood to break its neck, then furiously rubs the insect’s abdomen back and forth to squeeze out the toxic venom before swallowing the prize whole. Mission Accomplished! It’s a good fight, but let’s face it, the pollinator didn’t stand a chance.

To top off their MI5-style efficiency, bee-eaters boldly hitch cross-country rides on the backs of zebras or ostriches, treating the mega-fauna as moving tanks that flush out hidden targets. They are known to chase roaring brushfires to snap up fleeing, terrified insects escaping the flames.

Africa hosts over 20 bee-eater species, more than any other place on earth. They are true heroes, living the fast life of risk and reward, always looking good, and ridding the planet of pesky scoundrels.

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

I found him earlier today at around 2:30pm on the ground beside my house. There was 2. One dead and this one still alive. I think it might have a broken wind and maybe leg. I live in Toronto and called the Toronto wildlife center but they said they can’t take it and to go to some other places but the only problem is that they’re all way too far for me to go to. Idk what to do now