So, I have this whole thing about Sam and his powers. Namely, how they didn't use to be exclusively bird-themed.
In Captain America (1968) #174, we get the first textual acknowledgement of his powers. He is able to sense that some henchmen are coming - he calls it a "hunch" - and is receptive to Professor X's attempt to psychically communicate with him. Charles speculates that he's probably some kind of telepath.
This telepathy is most obvious when it comes to the relationship with Redwing (he can communicate with Redwing mentally, and they each seem to have an awareness of each other's location and mental state) but there's nothing originally stating that it's just a bird thing. More like, he has psychic powers that allow him to form an even closer relationship with Redwing than a (non-mutant) human could.
So - bear with me - in the 70s, you could easily interpret Sam's powers as not having anything to do with birds really. Instead, he's got these telepathic abilities that seem to focus on situational awareness and emotional bonds. Maybe he has some empathic abilities? Importantly, there's absolutely zero reason in canon at the time for his bond-forming abilities to be limited to Redwing. In fact, arguably they aren't.
So this happens at a point where Sam and Steve have broken up (they do that a lot) in #145. Sam has a inexplicably accurate dream about Steve's life being in danger, and he's right! He literally has a vision about a thing he has no non-telepathic way of knowing about!
So - again, bear with me - you could easily interpret this as foreshadowing Sam's powers AND as implying that Sam has actually formed some kind of psychic link with Steve, just like with Redwing.
This is like ~90% canon in my mind, at least as far as 70s 616 canon is concerned. But it could totally be used nowadays, or in fics. Sam having psychic bonds with Steve and Misty (he already sort of does with Joaquin). Or mcu-inspired Sam with Bucky et al. There are so many possibilities!
While I enjoy the wholesomeness of the "talking to birds" thing, I do think it's a shame that they narrowed down his powers so much. There's so many story options that psychic!Sam unlocks:
Access to the astral plane
Resistance to some psychic attacks
Vulnerability to other psychic attacks
He could host the Phoenix force! That's bird-themed!
There is so much they could have done/could still do with this concept!
