Q. Whats the difference between consciousness of a bird or dog and consciousness of a tree or stone ?
A. From the Second Mind perspective, bird, dog, tree, stone, etc are expressions of consciousness as perceived across a subject-object divide. In other words, they don't "have" consciousness, they are consciousness. It is the First Mind which recognizes "them" as "having" consciousness, meaning the First Mind doesn't recognize their essential nature; it only knows its own experience of being conscious, generally as an individual mind who thinks, feels, acts, experiences and is localized within the body. From the First Mind perspective, a stone appears to be rather dead and inert, while a bird appears alive and active. This difference is due to the First Mind’s lack of recognition of the range of consciousness, and the resulting superimposition of that bracket of recognition on the world.