Nests can spawn in a tree
If a tree has a nest then you can climb it and raid the nest
you have a chance to get eggs/birds from the nest (like when you raid anthills)
You can eat the eggs and wring the neck/butcher the birds but
To hatch a live egg you need a birdhouse (straw + boards + branch)
the bird from that egg is a messenger bird (like with pidgeons)
that bird is linked to that one birdhouse and is labeled like the keys
Message mechanic:
You use a parchment to write a mesage like always
when you meet someone you can trade birds
you put the message in the bird your friend(or foe whatever) and then send it flying
optionaly you can first link it to your birdhouse, any one bird can only be linked to 2 birdhouses
the bird will return to its linked birdhouse the time it takes to arrive depends on the distance (but it's very fast)
the birdhouse will have a flag (like a mailbox) when a message has arrived
once you take the message from the bird you can put it back in the birdbox OR if it was linked use it as a two way comunication device
Now lets spice it up
The following ideas are optional and searated from the ones above
a) The q of the bird defines it's speed and it translates to the time it takes to deliver the message along with the distance
or
b) the q of the bird defines how many birdhouses can be linked to (stupid birds)
Falconry
There is a very rare chance that you get a hawk egg from the nest, you can hatch the egg to get a hawk and feed it to make a trained hawk
this is a whole new skill [bird breeding]->[falconry]
it allows you to train the hawk and craft:
Falconer's glove:
a tool you have to equip to remove the hawk from the birdhouse and use it
Falconry hood:
required to make your hawk a trained hawk you select traind and it uses meat in your inventory and the hood for a succesful training
now what can you do with your trained falcon? here are some skills
Fetch:
You target a small animal like a rabbit, a rat or a chicken and it brings it to you just like if you had caught it (nothing special or groundbreaking but if the prey is across the river is nice)
Go:
Obviously you cannot kill a boar or an auroch with a hawk, but it can be of great help slowing the movement of such animal
You can send your hawk to a target, this cause no damage but no agro. It slows it's movement and gives a -5% to it's atk bar every few seconds if it's in combat(Again nothing gamebreaking but it can help you a lot in chasing a prey or escaping) an arrow points to where your hawk is; if your prey or chaser is outside the screen the arrow will help you find where it is
Back:
Your hawk comes back to you just like that

If you take out the falconer's glove your hawk goes back to it's birdhouse if you die it's lost forever
the q of the trained hawk defines the amount of -% atk or how much speed decreases in the target
the skill falconry is very dependant of your survival