From Wikipedia on bird vocalization:

The language of the birds has long been a topic for anecdote and speculation. That calls have meanings that are interpreted by their listeners has been well demonstrated. Domestic chicken have distinctive alarm calls for aerial and ground predators, and they respond to these alarm calls appropriately. However a ( Read more... )

Today on the way home I saw a couple of birds hopping through the grass in the parking strip. One was a starling, pecking at bugs or something in the grass. The other was a fuzzy grey robin-shaped thing slightly larger than the starling; I identified it as a fledgling robin. It hopped after the starling, cheeping insistently, and when it gaped, ( Read more... )

I am sad to report that Alex the extremely intelligent parrot is dead.

Apparently chickens have culture--they teach their chicks acquired knowledge. Article on chicken intelligence here; it's a pro-veganism site, so can be expected to be biased, but it cites its sources. Thanks to moderately_mad for the link.

For your delectation, a series of photos documenting the development of two hummingbirds from eggs to leaving the nest. There are five pages of photos, so be sure to check out all of them, including the last, which includes a toothpick and penny against the nest for scale. Photos are taken with a zoom lens, so the birds were not disturbed.