During setup, each player receives 5 random bird cards and 5 food tokens (1 of each type). You then keep up to 5 bird cards and must discard 1 food token for each bird card you choose to keep.

Each player starts with 5 bird cards and 5 food tokens (1 of each type). However, during setup you must discard 1 food token for each bird card you choose to keep, so you'll end up with fewer cards and food based on your choices - for example, you might keep 2 bird cards and 3 food, or 4 bird cards and 1 food.

Players start with 8 action cubes and have one fewer each round because they must use one cube to mark their score on the end-of-round goal. This results in 8 turns in Round 1, 7 turns in Round 2, 6 turns in Round 3, and 5 turns in Round 4.

To play a bird, you must pay both the bird's food cost and an egg cost based on the column. Column 1 has no egg cost. Columns 2 and 3 require discarding 1 egg to the supply. Columns 4 and 5 require discarding 2 eggs to the supply.

When you take any of these actions, you follow this pattern: 1. **Place an action cube** on the leftmost exposed slot of the corresponding row and gain the benefit shown (food dice for Gain Food, eggs for Lay Eggs, or cards for Draw Cards). 2. **Use the bonus conversion** if available on that slot - discard 1 bird card for extra food, pay 1 food for an extra egg, or discard 1 egg for an extra card. 3. **Activate brown "when activated" powers** on birds in that habitat from right to left (all powers are optional). 4. **End your turn** by moving your action cube to the left side of that row.

Based on the rules context provided, bird powers activate at different times depending on their type: - **"WHEN PLAYED" powers** activate immediately when you play the bird - **"WHEN ACTIVATED" (brown) powers** activate when you take the "Activate Forest/Grassland/Wetland" action and trigger that bird - **"ROUND END" powers** activate at the end of each round - **"GAME END" powers** activate during final scoring For activation order, you can choose the sequence when activating brown powers (as mentioned with Oriental Bay-Owl), and when using "repeat" powers like Gray Catbird, the repeated bird activates twice in one turn.

Your final score is the sum of four categories: 1. Points listed on each bird card you played 2. Points listed on each of your completed bonus cards 3. Points accumulated from end-of-round goals 4. 1 point each for: eggs on bird cards, food tokens cached on bird cards, and cards tucked under bird cards Add all these together for your total score.

Yes, when playing birds, you may spend any 2 food tokens as if they are any 1 food token. For example, if you need 1 fish, you could use any other 2 food tokens instead. This exchange can only be used when playing birds, not during other parts of the game.

At the end of the game, add together these four categories: 1. Points printed on each bird card you played 2. Points from each completed bonus card 3. Points earned from end-of-round goals (marked on the goal board) 4. 1 point each for: eggs on bird cards, food tokens cached on bird cards, and cards tucked under bird cards The player with the most total points wins. If tied, the player with the most unused food tokens wins, or victory is shared if still tied.