OT-ish dinner or family

[Burkhard]

I'm currently following the webcam of our local Loch Arcaig Ospreys,
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam

In the discussion I was made aware of a rather fascinating development
in an eagle's eyrie in Canada. Quick background: one of the two eaglets
died some time ago. Then mother eagle brought for dinner a still-living
hawklet. But instead of killing and eating it, the young eagle started
to interact with it more like it would with a sibling - and then mother
eagle started feeding it!

Initially most watchers thought that this was just "playing with your
food" and eventually it would become target practice, but now, several
days later, it seems the young hawk will survive and leave the nest on
its own power soon - today it had its first flight! An amazing story I
thought:

here it arrives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNamplucV6Q
and here today's footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODNrYqktsSA

[John Harshman]

That goes to show that bird brains are weird. The hawklet was just lucky
it was still alive when it got to the nest. There are definitely a lot
of birds who identify their offspring by their position (in the nest vs.
out of it). That's why brood parasitism works, and it's why a gull that
leaves the nest early is in trouble.