A Bear of Very Little Brain

A swan of golden feathers rose from a lake A silver-backed wigeon waded from the river Ate trees, ate stone, ate beasts of the woods Drank dry the wells and swamps, drank the sap from trees

It's not specifically about a swan or wigeon, nor one of each, and neither is the colour of the feathers specifically important. It doesn't matter whether it burst out of the water like a jumping fish, or waded out like a person - nor whether it was a lake or a river. And the list of things that it ate or would drink isn't specific or exclusive. All that this segment is saying is

Yes, that sure is a baby blackbird! 😄 Young blackbirds are quite different from the adults. Both male and female juveniles are brown when they first leave the nest, which helps them blend into their surroundings a bit better. As they mature, the females remain (dark) brown, while the males gradually moult into that black plumage that gives the species its name. The bright yellow beak and eye-ring comes later too. It's always a lovely time of year when the young blackbirds start appearing. They seem so full of curiosity, even when they're still following their parents around and asking to be fed every few minutes (strike that, should be every few SECONDS)!

Practically every single person who has ever pet one of my peafowl has softly exclaimed "Oh, they're so soft!" so I feel safe in declaring that they are, indeed, soft, or at least that they feel very soft to many people.

But, there are definitely chickens who are softer than others, like a rooster is not soft a rooster is smooth, but has Textures because you can feel the shafts of the feathers, or because the iridescence is structural and that structure has Texture. A big, fluffy cochin hen is going to feel different than a cemani hen or a silkie hen or a frizzle.

If you pet a peahen down the back, she is Incredibly Soft. 11/10 can recommend. Her neck is smooth with very soft bumpy texture as you go over the scallop feathers in front.

If you pet a peacock down his neck, it is like petting a wire-haired dog that has been rolled in corn starch. 0/10 petting experience. Same for his train. But his back and wings are all smooth/soft, and the butt fluff is downy soft.

If she didn't like it, she would simply walk away from me! They do have distress noises, but they're usually either warning noises or panic nosies during restraint. I am seated in an Adirondack chair, with no way to force her to stand there or tolerate me annoying her, and even when petting her I am not restraining her movement. They have a 1200sq/ft flight pen + a, 8x24' coop, and my chair is in one corner, opposite the coop so I'm basically as far away from anything central as I can get. They choose to come over and interact (or sometimes they don't, and we just hang in different areas of the pen), and Mantis often chooses violence (biting me over and over again) to get my attention and get pet.

You'll also notice that I ask for permission twice- once when I hold out a finger and once when I hold out my hand palm up. Both of these are gestures that, for us, mean "May I pet?" and you'll also notice that she holds still when I do those gestures- that's permission, waiting for me to pet. This was a while ago; we're at the point now that when she comes up looking for treats I will say "Just pets" and she'll stop looking for treats and hold still to get a beak rub. You can see her at the end reaching for my hand with her beak, that's her trying to ask me to keep going (hence why no asking permission first there).

These are, despite what some people think, intelligent birds. They have social structures and rules, and some form of communication that humans can participate in if they are patient and observant.