Birds are becoming popular as pets, but unlike owners with more common pets, owners of birds are often not familiar with the behavioural patterns (行为模式) of the animal which allow them to recognise what the pet needs and wants. For example, most of us can recognise the behaviour a dog exhibits when he is hungry or wants attention, but how many of us know how birds go about showing the same feelings?

By learning about the behavioural patterns of the bird, his owner can forge a stronger relationship with the pet. Owners can learn how to read birds’ body language, including movements of the eyes, wings, tail and beak (喙). In addition, the sounds the bird makes can also show the mood, desires, and requirements of the pet.

A bird’s eyes are different from a human’s. While both birds and humans have pupils (瞳孔) and irises (虹膜), birds have the ability to control the size of their pupils by enlarging and reducing their irises quickly. This behaviour, flashing, is something birds may do when they are angry, interested, or frightened.

A bird also communicates through the use of his wings. A bird may lift or open his wings as a sign of happiness. But if the bird starts opening and closing his wings, it may signal anger or pain. If a bird fails to fold his wings against his body, and instead lets them hang by his sides, the bird may be ill. Healthy adult birds will typically tuck (折起) their wings against their bodies when they are at rest.

Birds often use their tail feathers to communicate, so an understanding of this behaviour will help the pet’s owner. A bird may move his tail from side to side, called wagging, to express happiness (similar to dogs in behaviour and meaning). Happiness is also the emotion expressed by other kinds of tail movements, such as moving up and down. However, if a bird fans his tail feathers out, it is usually a way to show anger or aggression.

Passing biker Anuchit saw the dog twice on a highway in Roi-Et, northeastern Thailand, and last month. He stopped to check on the dog and was told by the locals that it had been sitting at the same place for its owner in the last four years.

Saowaluck , 45, said that she found the dog at that place in early 2016. Then he was so skinny and he had injuries, so Saowaluck took him to the vet, adopted him and named him Leo, but after a couple of days he was missing from her house and appeared at that spot again so she let him stay there and have been coming to feed him every day.

Anuchit decided to share the story of Leo and a video online, prompting the dog's owner to come forward. Video shows Leo sitting by the roadside and looking out as the cars drove past.

Owner Noi , 64, said her dog Bong Bong had gone missing after jumping down from her truck in 2015. “My husband and I drove around to find him but we failed." On seeing the video, she went back to the spot where she lost the dog on September 9, while Leo bounded over excitedly to Noi and let her rub his head. However, he refused to go home when she carried him to the truck. It appeared that Bong Bong needed time to adjust himself, so Noi promised to go back again the next day.

However, that night Saowaluck called Noi and said that she wanted to keep the dog because she had become attached to him. Noi responded that she was more than happy to let the dog stay with Saowalack. She said: "I have no intention to refuse her request. Due to her good care I believed she and the dog will be happy together and I would like her to keep the dog in her house.''

Saowaluck promised to take the dog home and would take good care of him while Noi suggested she was happy to take the dog back, if Saowaluck no longer wanted him.

Every year, millions of birds fly between Mexico’s Sierra Madre Oriental mountains and the Gulf of Mexico from August to November to escape cold temperatures, giving rise to an event known as the “River of Raptors”, which brings hundreds of foreign birdwatchers to the coastal area of Veracruz.

“Many of my customers have been at other famous bird migration sites but say they have never seen anything as grand as the ‘River of Raptors’ in Veracruz,” said Steven Koevoet, a birdwatching guide who has shown visitors places in Yucatan and Veracruz for over 25 years.

Yet the yearly event has not led to a large increase in ecotourism. Critics suggest the lack of increased ecotourism is mainly caused by Mexico’s failure to encourage tourism away from its beach resorts. Environmentalists believe high levels of violence and environmentally unfriendly practices are also problems for developing ecotourism in the states of Chiapas and Veracruz. Violence has stopped birdwatching for years in some places, where the activity was an important source of income for local communities.

But, environmental groups, universities and farmers in Veracruz are trying to change this. Angel Viveros, a rancher (大农场主), uses land owned by his family for activities including birdwatching, horse riding, skydiving and hiking. Supported by the non-profit group Pronatura Veracruz, which studies and counts the birds in the yearly migration, he is now receiving hundreds of visitors yearly. Local coffee producers organize coffee tastings and educational talks about the importance of birds in spreading seeds. A green, bird-friendly stamp for those producers could be the next step. One retiree who has been visiting Veracruz since 2002 had this to say, “Apart from feeling the physical relaxation, it is like something spiritual ... there are no words to describe what it feels like to see the river of birds.”