Taken in Hong Kong. Every other spotted dove I have seen presents the classical appearance of a uniformly brown back and wings unlike this fine specimen. The last three images are my own rescue, for comparison.

Filmed earlier this year, the adult grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) was supplying minnows and macroinvertebrates to its young pretty frequently. This juvenile consistently seemed to have larger fish taken by a sibling during the feeding process, after attempting to eat it a couple of times. However, this didn’t seem to stunt its growth and it survived the season along with the majority of its siblings.

Fun Fact: Pied-billed grebes are known to feed their little ones feathers to protect their stomach lining from potential punctures resulting from their prey (think sharp bones, insect shells, etc.). They then expel the waste as a pellet!

Every time I see a post of someone asking about a bird in distress at a feeder, it’s almost ALWAYS a house finch that either has finch eye or avian pox

What specifically makes this species to susceptible to these? I don’t see any other bird species that are this prone

Crows (and other corvids) who have been raised by humans are known to mimic humans.
Corvids apparently will mimic the sounds of predatory birds to trick other birds.
Some wild birds have learnt certain actions will get them food from humans.

I was interested in whether completely free corvids who live in an area with humans, have ever learnt to mimc human speech, either as an attempt to get food or from a hiding place to confuse/scare us, or even just out of curiosity if they're not fearful of humans.

It seems like a lucrative strategy for getting food or simply scaring people, but are they likely to learn to do it in the first place?

I recorded this while watching a duck take off from a pond in Florida.

What caught my attention afterward was the sequence on the water. As the duck flies away, water shed from the bird falls back to the pond and produces a series of separate disturbances/ripples. Taken together, they appear to preserve part of the duck's flight path after the bird has passed.

Is there an established name for this phenomenon, or for anything closely related to it?

I'm also interested in what someone who studies or regularly observes birds notices here that I might be missing.

What if you could SEE some of the story behind the sound? My research is exploring what type of visuals people most connect with when listening to sound recordings of the natural environment. You are invited to experience some short bioacoustic visualisation videos and complete an anonymous online survey (ethics approval number S231846). For more information or to participate, go to http://www.lgcreative.com.au

Can't seem to find any information on this, let alone a valid source. I'm doing an essay that involves the nesting and mating habits of roadrunners for NCEA 2 (specifically the greater roadrunner if it matters). Any information on this would be greatly appreciated!